2020 Winter Laser Sailor by Jerelyn Biehl

6 continents, 122 countries - the biggest adult and youth racing class in the world Winter 2020

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Winter 2019 - 2020 Charter Schedule in Florida (Limited Availability) Laser D13 Grand Prix Orange Bowl Youth Orange Bowl Open Hempel World Cup Florida Masters Masters Midwinters East Open Midwinters East Lauderdale OCR

FYC - Jacksonville CRYC - Miami CGSC - Miami USSC - Miami Palm Beach SC USSC - Martin Co Clearwater YC Lauderdale YC

USA CONTACT:â&#x20AC;¨ Ryan Eric Minth, C-vane Sailing +1 (212) 292 7245 Ryan@Cvane.com

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Ofﬁcial publication of the International Laser Class Association North American Region US Postal Service: Please return undeliverables to: ILCA-NA 2812 Canon Street San Diego, CA 92106 USA Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608 Please return undeliverables to: Bleuchip International PO Box 25542 London, ON N6C 6BC

Editors

Sherri Campbell & Jerelyn Biehl ILCA-NA

Ofﬁcers Andy Roy Chairman 15 Claudette Court Peterborough, ON K9J 7Y7 Canada 647-984-8097 aroy187740@gmail.com Meka Taulbee Vice Chairman Dunedin, FL USA 727-631-7005 meka@sailﬁt.com Eric Reitinger Treasurer 7908 Normandy Drive Mt Laurel, NJ 08054 609-206-2973 er4599@gmail.com

The

LaserSailor WINTER 2020

District Contacts .....................................................................................................6 President’s Report....................................................................................................8 TuesdayTips - by Erika Reinke............................................................................10 Update on C5 Rig...................................................................................................12 Tips on the New PSA Boats.................................................................................13 Using GPS for Sailing Performance Analysis - by Brett Beyer...................14 Rule 42: View from the Dark Side - by Bruce Martinson.............................16 2020 Event Schedule...............................................................................................19 Regatta Reports District 13 Champs - Jacksonville, FL................................................20 Master North Americans........................................................................22 Paciﬁc Coast Championship...................................................................23 District Reports.......................................................................................................24 SailorCise - Sandbag Training & Homemade Granola..................................40 Why Join the Laser Class?....................................................................................42 Membership Applications.....................................................................................43

John Long Secretary 4707 Sierra Madre Road Santa Barbara, CA 93110 805-705-1435 jlonginsb@yahoo.com Al Clark Member at Large 337 E 6th North Vancouver, BC V7L1P7 778-241-4799 al.clark@shaw.ca

6 continents, 122 countries - the biggest adult and youth racing class in the world Winter 2020

Cover photo: Adam Cook under Master NA skies. Photo by Jocelyn Cook

Sherri Campbell Executive Secretary 2812 Canon Street San Diego, CA 92106 USA phone: 619-222-0252 fax: 619-222-0528 sherri@odmsail.com

www.Laser.org

District Contacts

District 1

District 9

District 19

District 2

District 10

District 20

District 3

District 11

District 21

Claire Sears 506-650-8821 clairesears1@gmail.com Philippe Dormoy Ile Bizard, Quebec, H9C 2G8 514-808-0753 Pdormoy62@gmail.com Nigel Heath 416-417-0193 nigel_heath@manulife.com

District 4

Shelby Williams Sail Manitoba; 409-145 Pacific Ave. Winnipeg, MB, R3B 2Z6 204-925-5647 sailing.admin@sportmanitoba.ca www.sailmanitoba.com

District 5

Stephen Reichenfeld stephenreich@outlook.com

District 6

Dale Stranaghan West Vancouver BC 604-921-7575 x 231 sailingdirector@wvyc.ca www.district6x.ca

Peter Bushnell Cazenovia, NY 315-655-4671- peter.bushnell@carrier.com Eric Reitinger Mt. Laurel NJ Er4599@gmail.com http://d10.laserforum.org Scott Williamson laserfleet10@gmail.com 703-395-9654 http://www.laserdistrict11.org

District 12

Rob Bowden rbowden707@gmail.com www.d12laserforum.org

District 13

James Liebl gamedayparking@yahoo.com www.laser.org/m/_general/d13.asp

District 14 District 15

Griffin Orr Griffin.orr@me.com https://groups.google.com/ forum/?fromgroups#!forum/txLaser/

District 16

Billy Vogel D19Laser@gmail.com www.d19laser.org Sean Lennon 920-573-1922 spatricklennon11@gmail.com Facebook: Laserd20 Matthew Thompson D21.sec@gmail.com D21.laserforum.org

District 22

Kurt Hoehne, 524 N 67th St Seattle, WA 98103 206-335-8776 kurthoehne@gmail.com

District 23

Geoff Hurwitch Geoffh437@yahoo.com

District 24

Stephen Aguilar 1809 Brier Way, Carmichael, CA sailsteve55@gmail.com 916-968-3554

District 25

Christine Neville Laserd7@gmail.com

Tim Fitzgerald, Wichita KS 67226 316-650-3636 TIMFITZ875@gmail.com

District 8

District 18

Guy Fleming, 44-392 Olina St. #6 Kaneohe, HI 96744-2617 808-955-4405, guynsyd@hawaii.rr.com

District 7

Wyz Mooney geewyz@gmail.com 516-287-0305 www.LaserD8.org

John Shockey 216-386-1920 johnrshockey@gmail.com

Tucker Strasser rtswoodworking@gmail.com

District 26

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President’s Message Best of the season to all North American Class members! The ILCA World Council meeting was held on Nov. 23-24th in Dallas. A brief summary of the meeting can be found on the ILCA web site (http://www.laserinternational.org/ blog/2019/11/29/2019-ilca-world-council-meeting/). I’ll add a few of my own take-aways from the meeting and also touch on the summary that came out of the EurILCA AGM that took place the week following the annual WCM. Let me begin by remarking on what a tremendous voter turn-out on the rule change we saw this summer from North American class members. A big thanks goes out to all our District Secretaries and other folks who encouraged members to vote. Our North American region had the highest percentage of member votes (61%) of any ILCA region, with Oceania close behind in second. South America also had an impressively high percentage turnout, and combined I think this really sends a message that NA and SA members saw the rule change (removing the requirement for a builder to be a trademark owner) as an opportunity to pave the way to improved boat and equipment supply, while ensuring continued Olympic status. What was also quite interesting was the very low voter numbers in Europe, with only 10.7% of their members taking the time to vote. There are two major factors resulting from the 78% (of members worldwide) “yes” vote. The ﬁrst, of course, is that ILCA met its key objective of remaining as the Olympic women’s and men’s singlehanded equipment for the 2024 Olympics. The second and also associated factor is that the rule change clears the way for meeting FRAND (Fair, Reasonable and Non Discriminatory) compliancy, which will have the positive eﬀect of creating competition for class-approved equipment (along with what we expect will ultimately be lower costs for sailors). The process for approving new builders is well underway, although it will take a little more time for any new builder to be ready to start supplying hulls, with the anticipated timeframe being before the end of 2020. It’s important for class members in NA, SA and Europe to realize that ILCA has for some time been ready to reapprove Laser Performance as an ILCA builder. The ball has been in LP’s court whereby all they need to do is to agree to comply with the class construction agreement by resolving several outstanding breaches. Just today LP did

finally sign a long-awaited NDA that now enables ILCA to send LP builder contracts for signing, and which also covers FRAND requirements. Once this occurs LP can immediately start producing class approved boats again. At the annual World Council meeting, each regional chair provides a summary of activity in their respective region over the past year. In my summary I noted how I believe the rule change has had an immediate positive effect in our region. Starting this past August following the Youth Radial Worlds in Kingston, we have seen PSA starting to import boats, with buyers being impressed with the quality and service. The downside, of course, is that our NA dealer network has been impacted by LP not being a class approved builder. Again, this problem can be quickly rectified once LP agrees to sign the FRAND documents and resolve its construction agreement breaches.

Regarding the use of the Laser trademark and starburst logo, PSA, PSJ and eventual newly approved builders will not be using the Laser name and logo on the equipment they supply. The name “ILCA” will be used, although regattas and championships can continue to use the name Laser and logo in their title. All equipment will have a coded label with serial number used for tracking and denoting it as class approved. The winter season of Laser regattas is just about to begin, with some really nice entry numbers for the Miami Orange Bowl youth regatta (including a great to see record turnout of 4.7 entries). This will be followed by the World Cup in Miami, along with a series of class World Championships taking place near Melbourne Australia. Check out the “Laser2020” app for more details, as the Aussies are really going all out to put on a great show in the new year.

Andy Roy

CMY

www.Laser.org

Tuesday Tips ILCA-NA is lucky to have permission to run Erika Reinekeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s popular Tuesday Tips features for 2020. Please visit and support Erika through: Instagram: @amerikandreem website: www.erikareinekee.com and consider making a donation towards her Olympic campaign as a thanks for allowing us to post her Tips.

by Erika Reineke

Tuesday Tips

Write up a short outline or make a grid for each of the big picture conditions. A “Cheat Sheet” is especiallly useful when you and your coach are chatting pre-race & it helps in those moments where you think “I don’t know what’s going on”

www.Laser.org

Update on the C5 Rig by Andy Roy Driven by Julian Bethwaite, Australian dinghy designer, and with the participation and endorsement of the Australian and Japanese Laser builders, PSA and PSJ, there has been a multi-year eﬀort to develop what is known as the C5 rig for the Laser hull. These three commercial parties have been updating ILCA on the development and we have been watching with interest. A number of C5 rigs have been sold in Australia, which has provided a good user feedback loop back to the developers. The motivation behind the C5 stems from class enthusiasts eager to gain and retain customers, particularly those aging out of the Optimist Class. Beyond the undeniable sex-appeal of the rig, its usability allows for lighter weight sailors to be more competitive than the current rig allows. A major target market for Bethwaite, PSA and PSJ, besides young sailors coming out of the Opti, is lighter sailors in Asian countries, and also lighter women worldwide. While the class has previously allowed for updates to its rigs, introduction of the C5 as class approved equipment would be more of a radical change. The C5 has all carbon spars, a skiﬀ-like laminate sail, and is transportable as checked airline baggage. In Bethwaite’s words: “The simple reduction in weight, the dramatic reduction in inertia and the reduction in counter righting moment, and given the history of carbon rig conversions, means that with time, the Carbon rig boat (like the C5) will get to max speed earlier, stay at max speed longer and/or point higher due to lower drag. The following is the latest update from Australian Ken Hurling, regional chair for the Oceania Laser Class Association. “I’m a Radial rig Grand Master sailor, and 12

have been carrying out my own testing of the C5 for last 3 months. I have sailed in wind ranging from 10 to 25+ knots. I just love it, as have a number of young sailors who have tried it. My overall view is the Rig is easy to sail upwind and downwind by the lee, and the mast works to forgive helming mistakes. It’s clearly well designed and built, easy to rig, lightweight and a snap to right after a capsize. Because it is fully battened when on shore there is very little flapping, so this will significantly increase sail life. I believe the weight range can be extended to the lighterweight Masters who might struggle with the Radial in windy conditions, especially Woman. In summary, the Laser hull performs in a livelier manner with the C5 Rig. I am a definite supporter of this modern approach for the Class. There are many tuning devices on the rig and when it gets to the experts I think it will be a lot faster to sail. We’re looking forward to continued test and evaluation of the C5 rig and to possible class introduction in the nottoo-distant future”. It’s important to state that ILCA has no plans to replace or remove any of our existing classes. The current three rigs/classes will continue with controlled, incremental evolution and development aimed at improving longevity, increasing the ease of use and reducing the cost of ownership. Secondly, and consistent with ILCA’s past practice, any new rigs will only become class legal equipment after thorough testing and widespread evaluation in conjunction with the ILCA Technical Officer, the ILCA Technical and Measurement Committee and with the approval of World Sailing. I’m hoping we can get a few C5 rigs into North America soon for sailors to try out. Stay tuned.

Tips on the new PSA boats Ryan Minth / C-vane Sailing DISCLOSURE STATEMENT: During a recent conversation with another top coach based in the USA, the topic moved to PSA (Australian) ILCA Dinghies (ILCA-D) coming to our NA region. He said, “The details are really gray.” I am probably as centered as one could be in this process and everything is pretty ‘gray’ to me as well right now. Currently, I am managing a trailer of ten PSA charter boats for the Florida regatta tour with/for PSA. My formal relationship with PSA is still to-be-determined. Mostly, I am excited about re-building the ILCA Fleet in the USA organically like every other strong One Design Fleet in our region; by getting new boats into local ßeets (normally bought by a Class stalwart) and growing the ßeet with the sale of their pre-owned boat. This has been slow since 2004 for most areas of our regionÕs local ßeets. THAT SAID, HERE ARE A FEW THINGS I HAVE LEARNED ABOUT THE PSA PRODUCT THAT ALL OF OUR CLASS MEMBERS SHOULD BE AWARE OF: First: All new PSA ILCA-D under production have an encapsulated bailer screw hole. This under the waterline hole to fasten the Auto-Bailer to the hull has been a prime source for leaks into the hull. Not anymore! The screw could go completely missing and the pilot hole for the screw will no longer allow water to pass into the hull. Second: While on the topic of draining water from the hull (no more from a leak from the AutoBailer screw), PSA has moved the drain plug in the transom closer to the rudder gudgeons for easier draining. Class legend Fred Schroth wrote a lengthy dissertation years ago on the transom drain plug being awkwardly placed away from where the water would collect as a metaphor for something I was unable to connect, but should these boats eventually get leaky (probably through the grab rail screws), it will be certainly easier to drain with the relocated plug. Third: PSA released the GRP foils early (pre-ILCA approval), much to the chagrin of the ILCA World Counsel at the time (me included). They were, however, clearly a step in the right direction for the Class. Now, the trailing edges of PSA foils are void of gelcoat, allowing an additional 1-2mm of glass resin to completely make up the most delicate edge of our foil proÞle. Stronger and signiÞcantly less likely to chip or incur other damage with the additional resin. This could be a game changer for charter boats to be made available with foils. Lastly, and probably touched on by our President/Chairman Andy Roy in his President’s Report, COMPOSITE RADIAL LOWER SECTIONS HAVE BEEN APPROVED. They should be available with the Þrst container of ILC-Ds coming into the US during late 1Q20. My interpretation is that they will be legal for competitions, but not for the 2020 Quadrennium Worlds Regattas or Olympic Sailing until their completion in August.

www.Laser.org

Using GPS for sailing performance analysis By Brett Beyer The use of GPS along with review and analysis software has completely changed not only the way I coach sailors in various classes, but has also solidified my theories as to which techniques can work in various conditions and which cannot. The traditional verbal method of sailing coaching is becoming somewhat antiquated and is being replaced with video for visual feedback and GPS for performance analysis. Sailors want to know where gains and losses were around the course for each leg. Analysing not only your own performance but comparing that to the sailors that performed best on each leg of the course can be quite revealing. For example, did those getting to the top mark get a better start, sail in more pressure, sail better lifted tacks, avoid the lulls or even tacked faster? A trend in the statistics begin to appear when comparing yourself against the best in the fleet. Here is a typical upwind analysis of a small Laser fleet:

Performances at a glance:

The average upwind target speed of a Laser in hiking condition is 5.0knots. Some achieved this. The average tacking angle of a Laser is 90 degrees so any sum of Port and Starboard less than 90 indicates sailing on good lifted angles. Number of tacks should reflect number of shifts. ie not many in this race. Has speed won the upwind or sailing less distance on lifted tacks won the leg. The same analysis can be performed for downwind looking at the relationship between speed and distance. This is always a delicate balance to get right when racing but the GPS analysis will tell us the VMG comparison of the fleet so you can instantly see why one boat is achieving a better VMG over another. For example, flatter water in a Laser, sailing a Broad Reach simply adds distance and not enough speed so it will be a net VMG

Using GPS for sailing performance analysis penalty. But in certain wave conditions, it can work very well. The challenge is to know when to apply a Broad Reach and when to simply sail By the Lee. Here, Sailor A sails the most distance but achieves the best average boat speed. That is, his deviations off the rhumbline were justified to keep the boat moving in pressure and catching waves. Another telling statistic is who achieved the best maximum speed and although this only represents a small moment in time, it reflects the commitment of the sailor to produce short term bursts of amazing speed before using that speed for depth, or to get back towards the bottom mark or to link across to the next gust. Being able to see the gains and losses at a glance for each leg of the entire race is also handy:

Training and coaching other boats like 505’s and Flying Dutchman’s, one of the main questions downwind is when to do a harder angle to get the crew on the wire and alternatively when to pole back and run square. Again, we can use the GPS in training and experiment with alternative modes of downwind sailing and compare the data for different conditions. This soon draws a clear picture of the conditions required for each mode of sailing. Todays GPS’s are small and light and carrying them in a waterproof bag inside your PFD is all that is required. Many clubs are now using them as coaching tools as well as confirming finishing times and positions where often it may be difficult to manually record them. The live data versions of GPS tracking is impressive to watch but are the most expensive to own and maintain, hence restricted to World cup events or higher profile events where it is viable. Most good GPS devices are capable of data recording and then download later to a 3rd party software. Even your smart phone with GPS enabled linking to one of many sailing analysis apps work fine. For those that like the idea of bring out their phone, then any GPS will actually do. Some software likes to communicate more directly with some GPS brands so check out the details before your club commit to buying many of them. Ultimately, I like the confidence of leaning new sailing techniques whilst using GPS as confirmation. This is fantastic in training and when it comes to racing you can quickly adopt to the mode that has been statistically proven in training. We often don’t have the luxury of always training against the best sailors in the fleet but the use of GPS downloaded to analytical software is a worthwhile performance tool. Bio: Brett Beyer has won 13 Masters World Championships and has been an Olympic Laser Coach for the past four Games. Coaching a variety of countries where some don’t have English as their first language, the use of GPS has expanded as a form of feedback to a method of confirming best technique and tactics. Brett now uses GPS for group club coaching in Sydney where regularly 50 boats each weekend vie for top honours of achieving maximum speeds and shortest distances. If you’d like to know more about Brett’s coaching and use of GPS, contact him on beyersailing@gmail.com www.Laser.org

Rule 42: View From the Dark Side By Bruce Martinson Why be a judge?

It is the BEST place from which to watch a sailboat race. The main purpose for having on the water judges is to help keep the racing fair. A couple of pumps off the line can put the boats on either side back in the second row looking for clear air for the first ¼ of the beat. A couple of rocks can break an overlap and cause another boat to lose 5-6 boats at a crowded rounding. There are two approaches to judging; one is to watch and waiting for kinetics, the second way is to have a very visible presence to discourage kinetics (the drone of the motor seems to also help). Most sailors and judges prefer the second. The best place to learn about what the judges are looking for can be found on the World Sailing website. Rule 42 Most Common Breaches: Lasers https://members.sailing.org/tools/documents/ Rule42Laser201320032014-[16804].pdf and Interpretations of Rule 42 Propulsion https://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/ InterpretationsR42May2017AW-[23702].pdf If you should get flagged, after the race don’t hesitate talking to the judge that made the call. Sometimes they are available on the water. When on shore you can go to the jury office and ask for them. Their initials will be on the list of “On the Water Penalties” posted on the Notice Board. The best approach is to ask them “what did you see?”. When I am watching a boat, I try to verbalize what I am seeing, sometimes talking into a recording device to help me later should I be asked about the call. If I have verbalized something that matches a prohibited action, I have confidence that I’m making a good call and that I can explain it later.

What judges are looking for in the different areas of the race course:

Starts: More than one roll or a body pump that clearly propels the boat (RRS 42.1). That little extra can have a huge effect on the boat to windward and the boat to leeward. Sculling: Usually off-set sculling. Read what is allowed and what isn’t on the links above. Upwind: Judges are looking for body movements that causes the leech of the sail to “flick” and for rolling the boat repeatedly (even if the leech doesn’t “flick”.) Roll Tacking: If when you flatten the boat it makes your boat go faster than the boat next to you and then your boat slows down you have broken the basic RRS 42.1. 16

Downwind: The most common

rule broken is rocking the boat without the appropriate turning. Judges watch a group of boats and if one seems to be rocking more than the others, we look to see what the sailor is doing more closely. Are there waves, are his body movements responsible…is the boat turning appropriately for the amount of rock? Many times, on the downwind leg, you will see the jury boat slowly going upwind through the fleet. This helps the judges see a lot more boats without following just a few boats. If you encounter a jury-boat they will typically hold their course, usually aiming at the weather mark, it is too difficult to try and guess which way the sailor might turn. If you encounter a jury boat at some other time and they don’t make eye contact with you, please don’t hesitate to KINDLEY let them know that you are there or you feel they are giving you prop-wash. If you get flagged wait to hear your number. It is a helpless feeling watching the wrong boat start to take turns. The judge will whistle, point the yellow flag at you and hail your number. When and incident happens at a crowded mark rounding it may be too difficult to get to the boat the judges want to penalize without interfering with other boats so we will flag them after they are out of the congestion. The jury boats like to be close to the competitors so they can see what the sailor is doing and also so we don’t have to make big waves to get to a boat they want to penalize. On the Water Judges will typically not protest a boat if there is a boat in the area that could see the incident. If the judge saw the incident, they can make for a good witness. Judging is a great way to give back to the sport. If you get a chance to help with youth regattas, high school or college regattas, they are good places to learn. You will also be very valuable in protest hearings because you know how the Laser performs and what you are looking at in tactical situations. Seeing what happened in a hearing will help you understand what you might need to win a protest in the future. A judge’s best day on the water is when he doesn’t need to give any yellow flags! If you are interested in judging look for a Club Judge Seminar in your area. You can find their location on the US Sailing web site at: https://www.ussailing.org/competition/rules-officiating/ resources/find-a-seminar/judge-seminar-calendar/

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2020 Schedule Regatta

Standard

Radial

Laser 4.7

Masters

Melbourne, AUS Feb 9-16 U21: Malcesine, ITA July 26-Aug 2

Women & Men: Melbourne, AUS Feb 21-28 Youth: Dziwnow, POL, Aug

Arco, ITA July 16-24

Geelong, AUS Mar 19-28

St Francis YC San Francisco, CA

west coast

CORK Kingston, ON July 3-5

US Championships

Norfolk YC Norfolk, VA June 12-14

east coast

CORK

Kingston, ON www.cork.org August 14-18

Kingston, ON www.cork.org August 10-14

Midwinters East

Clearwater, FL www.clwyc.org Feb 20-23

USSCMC Jensen Beach, FL Feb 4-7

Midwinters West 30 GP points

Alamitos Bay YC Long Beach, CA March 20-22

Atlantic Coast Championships

Sail Newport Newport, RI May 30-31

Pacific Coast Championships

Tahoe YC Tahoe City, CA July 25-26

Gulf Coast Championships

Texas Corinthian YC Kemah, TX Oct 3-4

No Coast Championships

Crescent Sail YC Grosse Pointe Farms, MI July 31-Aug 2

Great Lakes Championships

Rochester YC Rochester, NY Sept 12-13

World Championship

22-30

NA Championship 40 GP points

Canadian Championships 30 GP points

30 GP points

July 15-19

25 GP points

www.Laser.org

Britannia YC Ottawa, ON August 21-23

Chicago Corinthian YC Chicago, IL July 11-12

Regatta Reports 2019 Laser District 13 Championships November 16-17, 2019 Florida YC – Jacksonville, FL Hal Gilreath, Regatta Chairman Florida Yacht Club, in Jacksonville, FL, hosted nearly 100 boats for the 2019 Laser District 13 Championships. Sailors came from across the U.S., Canada (National team) and the Cayman Islands to enjoy high level competition, great socializing and an opening to the 2019-20 Winter Season. FYC Sailing Director, Jodi Weinbecker and Dustin Domer executed the event with impeccable precision. Carl Schellbach, PRO, and Wayne Collier, Chief Judge, ran six great races with the support of a Navy of FYC volunteers. The volunteers helped run the races, launch and recover boats, and help sailors, coaches and supporters with local information. Without this support the D13 Champs and many regattas would not be viable and enjoyable. Several sailors arrived early, and the regatta kicked off Friday evening with many sailors enjoying the waterfront views from the lively FYC bar. Saturday dawned crisp, cloudy and windy. The three fleets, of 4.7, radial and full rigs, embarked upon a full day of sailing in challenging conditions. The St Johns River offered up 15-20 knots of breeze, good waves and incoming current. The RC laid out trapezoid courses which required skills across all facets of boathandling and sailing techniques. Three races later the Canadians proved their mettle and team training beneficial owning the top spots in the full rig. Robert Davis and Luke Ruitengberg traded races on Saturday in the Full rig fleet. The Lauderdale Yacht Club team did the same in the Radials. Leyton Borcherding and Daniel Escudero traded races in the Radials. Spencer Dominguez won all four races in the 4.7 fleet to garner a comfortable lead. The top sailors demonstrated the abilities to keep the boats moving in the

1 2 3 4 5

gusty and shifty breezes and waves, using their bodies to steer the boats well through the waves. Fitness and youth were also served. After three solid and demanding races the ﬂeet retired to FYC and enjoyed a tasty and ﬁlling dinner. Sunday dawned crisp and with slightly less breeze. The conditions were challenging as the wind varied in strength

Benjamin Smith leads Kaitlyn Hamilton into leeward mark

across the course. Another three races concluded the regatta and enabled the sailors to discard each of their worst ﬁnish. FYC Commodore, Wilson Studstill, handed out the custom awards for the top three in each ﬂeet and Masters’ radial and full rigs. The District 13 Champs was a great example of the Laser community. We had sailors from all over and ages ranging from 11 to 78. Thanks go to our sponsors Bagel Love of Jacksonville and Dynamic Dollies. Tackle Shack kept everyone equipped with gear by staging their parts trailer on site.

Full Rig Open

Radial Open

Robert Davis Kingston YC/RCYC

Leyton Boercherding

4.7 Open

Masters Radial

Lauderdale YC

Spencer Dominguez KBYC/CGSC

USSCMC

Luke Ruitenberg

Daniel Escudero

Jake Homberger

Dave Hartman

RNSYS

Lauderdale YC

USSCMC

Justin Norton BYC James Juhasz Kingston YC

LYC/Atlanta YC Chris Purcell Lauderdale YC Michael Burns PCYC/GCYSA

Noah Adler RNSYS Cort Snyder Lauderdale YC

Hal Gilreath Florida YC Keith Barron Ocala SC

Max Guerriero

Max Zhalilo

Kevin Ratigan

TCYC

Lauderdale YC

Matheo Capasso LYC/Cayman Islands SC

Monica Wilson

Sarasota SS /MYC

Regatta Reports

Noah Adler in 4.7 Fleet Radial ﬂeet start: Liam Dorsey (6119); Etha Homberger (3639)

No one is too old or young to enjoy these regattas. It’s great competition and even a better group of friends. Come back to FYC and Jacksonville and enjoy sailing your Laser. Final results: https://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/ applet_regatta_results.php?regatta_id=18945&show_laser_ masters=1

Great shots of sailing courtesy of Laura Burns: h�ps:// www.facebook.com/FycJrSailing

Full rigs going downwind: Rob Hallawell; Dave Hiebert; Patrick Walchholz

Forrest Wachholz battling with Luke Ruitenbert and James Juhasz from Canadian Team

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Regatta Reports 2019 Laser Masters North American Championship Marbelhead, MA The 2019 Laser Masters North American Championship was held October 4-6 in Marblehead MA. Seventy-six competitors participated, coming from as far away as the Dominican Republic and as close as Canada with a dozen home town entrants.

After a total of six races, the winner in the Full Rig ﬂeet was Peter Shope (Grand Master) of Sail Newport, with Ray Davies (Master) of Water Rat Sailing Club in 2nd, and Gord Welsh (Apprentice Master) of Stony Lake Yacht Club in 3rd.

The Masters competition is divided into Full Rig and Radial, and then by the age of the sailors – Apprentice Master 35-45, Master 45-55, Grand Master 55-65, and Great Grandmaster 65+.

In the Radial ﬂeet, Rob Hallawell (Master) of USSCMC took ﬁrst, Christine Neville (Apprentice Master) of Sail Newport placed 2nd, and the legendary Peter Seidenberg (Great Grand Master) of Sail Newport took 3rd.

The event attracts lifetime sailors including Former Olympians and champions from many other classes. Scoring includes a handicap system, where each age group has to give a point to the group above. Conditions over the three days of the event were all over the place, with gusts early on Day 1 of almost 30 knots causing several sailors to switch to the Radial fleet. Day 2 was a bust as the breeze tried to fill in from the N, NE and E, but never was strong enough or steady enough for the RC to get any races off. Day 3 was all about catching up as an earlier start with a solid 18+ knot southerly allowed the Race Committee, led by EYC’s Susie Schneider, to bang out 4 excellent races. The 4’ swell a little East of downwind and a 2’ chop from the South made for some wild rides. 22

Seidenberg, the oldest competitor at 82 years old, has attended nearly every Laser Master Championships since they were launched in 1980. Seidenberg is also known as the inventor of the modern-day Laser dolly. His background in structural engineering led him to build what has been called the “Rolls Royce of dinghy dollies.”

Photos by Jocelyn Cook

Regatta Reports 2019 Laser Pacific Coast Championships Bellingham Yacht Club By Mike Powell & Mike Poulos Regatta Chairs. Bellingham Bay saw 23 Laser standards and 41 Laser Radials from mostly BC, WA and OR plus one brave soul from CA line up to race on a weekend that proved to have most wind ranges to contend with. Saturday morning started sunny with 10-12kts out of the south dying as the day went on to finish in about 3-5kts, the Standards got 4 races off and the Radials 3 as they had to re-start several times due to general recalls. Races were championship length running around 50-60 minutes which favoured the fit when the wind was up. Sunday started with a weak easterly, never a good thing in the bay but as competitors arrived the expected sporty southeasterly kicked in and we had 18-24kts with quite bumpy sea states for most of the day until the last Radial race where it eased to around 10kts. Standards raced another 4 for a total of 8 races and Radials 4 for a total of 7. In the standards the Canadians swept the podium with Ian Elliott from RVYC dominating the fleet with 6 bullets a 2nd and a 4th place throw out for 8 points, Mathew Stranaghan, WVYC, 2nd (Also first youth) with 22 points and Tony Martin, JSCA, in 3rd with 29.

6 FJ’s. With over thirty volunteers and 10 support vessels on the water it was a large undertaking for our club, which was handled well. PRO’s Mick Corcoran (DJOD) and Blaine Pedlow (PCC’s) managed both race courses. A big thank you to our event sponsors; Samson Ropes, The Port of Bellingham, Stones Throw Brewery, West Coast Sailing, West Marine and the host Bellingham Yacht Club. Results here; h�p://www.rega�anetwork.com/ event/19445#_newsroom Photos by Mike Powell

In the larger Radial fleet, which was also packed with the regions strong youth contingent Maura Dewey, RVYC, Allan Clark, RVYC and Hanne Weaver, SYC/ RVYC could be seen swapping leads and racing bow to bow around the marks both days. The final points showed how close the competition was as they finished with 12,14 and 15 points in total. Cameron Holland, RVYC came in 4th overall and also the first youth racer. The BYC operated two full race courses over the weekend as we also had the annual Dale Jepson One Design regatta happening with a fleet of 15 505’s and www.Laser.org

District Reports District 3 Nigel Heath Nova Scotia, CA

District 5 Stephen Reichenfeld Alberta/Saskatchewan Even though this report will not be published until the new year it seems appropriate that I am writing this on American Thanksgiving as all of us involved in sailing live such a privileged life. To be able to participate in an activity that we so enjoy is certainly something to be thankful for. Many thanks to the volunteers on race committees, at the clubs, in the kitchens and all those that make it possible for us to carry on.

The 2019 sailing season in Ontario started late for many sailors due to the cold wet May/June and ended early in the fall. Typically we would sail into November, but not this year given the early snow and winter-like conditions. I can’t recall a sailing season this short in Ontario, so hopefully climate change will bring a longer season next year. The Fogh Gold Cup results have been calculated (see facebook.com>d3laser) and the winners are: Radial: (1) Lucas Fogh (receives $500 Fogh gift certificate) (2) Nathan Latka ($500 Fogh gift certificate as top junior) (3) Robert Nicholson ($100 Fogh gift certificate). As a reminder, your best 4 of the 6 Fogh Gold Cup events count towards the results. Congrats to the winners!! Special thanks to Fogh Marine for their continued excellent support of laser sailing in District 3. Let us know of your 2020 laser, radial and 4.7 events and we will ensure they get onto our 2020 regatta schedule. Also congrats to D3 sailors who did well on the world stage this summer including Joe Van Rossem who came second (tied for first) in the Masters World Championships in the Netherlands and to Ray Davies who won the European Masters Championships in Spain. Way to go boys!

District 4 Shelby Williams Manitoba While the cold has set in here in Manitoba our sailors are looking forward to the 2020 season. We have several great events going on in Manitoba next summer! Our 2019 season was packed with Laser action at the biggest District 4 championships we have had in a long time. The 27 Lasers battled it out at the Falcon Yacht Club in incredibly diﬃcult conditions over two days of racing. Congratulations to Marieke Bordasch (Radial) and Kayden Polachek (Standard) on their wins! The Sail West Championships, District 4 Championships, and Manitoba Masters Championships will be held at the Gimli Yacht Club August 1-3, 2020. The Manitoba Summer Games will also be held in Dauphin August 9-12, 2020. All of which will make for a very busy training, and fun, race season for the provincial race team.

District 5 continues to have an active group of Laser sailors of all ages. The 4.7 fleet is finally gaining some traction and we look forward to seeing more youth and the perhaps not so young, youthful, enjoying this rig as an option to get on the water. The season saw many opportunities to improve skills. Early on, the fleet was visited by ex Canadian team coach, Brian Todd, who flew across the country to coach some Masters and then share his knowledge and experience with regional coaches. Thanks Brian for helping us “up our game.” Throughout the summer, regular training went on at all levels with many sailors improving their skills. Thanks to the perseverance and enthusiasm of our regional coaches and the support of Provincial Associations in Alberta and Sakatchewan. The Laser may be a single hander but it takes a team effort to become successful. Thanks all. So on to results … the Dick Degner Memorial Series, in memory of one our early Masters sailors, is tough to win (but maybe not as tough as Dick singlehandedly roof loading his Laser was) as it requires participating in a number of regattas and consistently beating your adversaries on the water for a cumulative score. The Laser Open fleet proved to be very tight with only a few points separating the top group after season end. For 2019 the Dick Degner Memorial Series winners are: Laser Open: Phil Paxton, Laser Masters: Phil Paxton, Laser Radial (female): Lesley Reichenfeld. Congratulations to the winners and to all who gave it a good effort and made it another great season of friendly competition. I will be working on the scoring format for 2020 so let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks. Winter is full on here with the ice thick and the snow deepening in the Canadian Rockies. That doesn’t slow our group down though as dryland training continues as well as members attending sail training in Portugal, travelling

District Reports to Florida and California to race and preparing for the long journey to Geelong, Austrailia for the Masters World Championships. There are 6 (+ 1 more by birthplace) sailors from our little district going to Geelong. What are you waiting for? Come and join us … “it’s later than you think”.

THE ALUMINUM TRAILER LIKE NO OTHER District 6 Dale Stranaghan Vancouver, BC On Oct 20th the Jericho Sailing Association held its Volunteer Appreciation and Annual Award dinner. The Sunday series consisted of 15 Sunday race days with typically 5 races a day. In the Radial Class Jacek Suski was a clear winner missing only one day of racing. Peter Woytkowiak was second and Tim Murphy third. In the Standard fleet, Tony Martin was first followed by Cameron Pierce in second and Tim Murphy in third. For the Penguin Cup, which covers the shoulder season of early April and late October, the Radial fleet was a bit smaller but again dominated by Jacek Suski who did not miss a race day. In the standard fleet it was down to the last cold October day that saw Peter Woykowiak and Tony Martin going head to head. In the end it was a tie with Peter winning first in the count back, Tony second and Andriy Kanyuka third. Of special note at the awards dinner the Andy Hunt Volunteer Award was handed out to Laser Master sailor Richard Spencer for his timeless effort in developing the JSCA race scoring system. For complete results of all the JSCA events, check out some of Richard’s handy work at “jracing.org”

District 7 Scott Pakenham New England Summer and Fall Wrap up- double session!! We left off just after the Wickford regatta. One of Rhode Islands best run regattas. Fantastic Race Committee, Awesome beach venue, Amazing waters, and a Great Dinner! Laser Class Alumni Skip Whyte sure helps his club put on first class events! From the reports submitted here are some highlights!!! Chris Bollengier reported on the Newport Regatta….Wind Wind and more Wind, My mainsheet arm hurts, but my legs were fine. If you wanted to sail in the largest fleet for the prestigious Newport Regatta, hosted by Sail Newport, it would have been in a Laser/ILCA. 20 Boats signed up to be dominated by St. Francis’s Peter Vessella, Peter had

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UNIVERSAL DOLLY FULLY ADJUSTABLE

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just relocated to Rhode Island for the warmth and you will see his name more in this report! It proved to be a Masters fleet as the remaining 5 podium spots were all old enough to have their kids sailing!! Youngster Jack Fisher broke up the AARP meeting with a 7th overall! Dad, Brian, can still put the hurt on the kid as he finished in 4th. Proving he should never be counted out, the Peter “The Legend” Seidenberg managed 2 bullets in the 9 race series. If you wanted to sail in the 2 largest fleet….bring your wallet, the IC37 fleet could only muster 17 yachts (I do think that’s all that were built at the time). This next report is being accepted but I feel as though it needs some fact checking. Apparently Peter Hopple came off the bench to sail the STONE HORSE REGATTA ???? Not sure if I believe this statement and definitely doubtful about the next. HE WON IT!! Peter Hopple won the Stone horse regatta!!!! A mix of 15 Lasers/ILCA’s mixed it up for 5 races with 1 throw out and Hopple kept it together for the win!! Mark Bear stayed in the single digits to bring home second while third goes to Herrin Podges (sp? Handwritten results) 209655. This regatta is told to be one that’s not to miss, I just cant get there, but Peter Shope says its his favorite hat!! Or was it a shirt? The Summers double header was a split in talent. Marblehead hosting The Sailing World/ Helly Hansen NOOD and Hyannis Yacht Clubs Hyannis Regatta. 18 Full rigs and 12 Radials set battle amongst the other fleets at the NOOD, hosted by Eastern Yacht Club. This event also served as the District 7 Championships and

District Reports the Massachusetts State Championships. All 3 were taken home on his home turf by North Sails Designer extraordinaire JB Braun!!! Bill Rothwell and Atle Lohrmann did their best to challenge but with only 3 races out of the 1st spot there was little room to knock him oﬀ the top step.

In the Radial fleet New Yorker Ryosuke Sakai did win the regatta but was not able to hit the Trifecta as he was from out of state. His finishes of 1st 2nd and 3rd ‘s held him a handy lead over The D7 and Mass Champ Judith Krimski!!! Ryosuke didn’t go away with his head low (because he was from Giants country) his awesome results earned him the NOOD invite for the Caribbean NOOD Pro-AM!! Way to go! A little further south saw Fullies and Radials crossing tacks on the Cape!! The Hyannis regatta had both young and a little less young prevail, Caleb Robinson from SailMaine bested Fleet 413’s Champ Peter Shope, Pete’s 1, 1, 1 in the last races were not enough to close the gap as Caleb won with a 4 point buffer. The Radial Fleet was proof that he never lets you gain on him, Peter “The Legend” Seidenberg held on to all 1’s and 2’s (after his throw out) and the win over Alex Gonzalez and the other 13 sailors. Put this regatta on your list for 2020 as they hope to host larger events for the class!!! Buzzards Bay Regatta- Sailed out of New Bedford Yacht Club, I have Mt Gay hats from this event since 1995 all except a couple years ago. Due to the hard work and expert negotiating by Mark Bear this event has come back to the Laser/ILCA calendar, well the Masters calendar. Again the largest fleet (21 Boats) and sharing the line with the 505’s familiar names rose to the surface. The master handicap system did nothing but help the top three Grand Masters (Shope, Vessella, Bear) extend their lead on the Master

(ME!!) Scott Pakenham in fourth place. In fact looking back there were only 2 Apprentices, 2 Masters and the rest remember Nixons’ speeches!!! The coolest part of this

regatta was the off the water experiences, getting to better meet the people you share days with on the water. My new friend Dave Penfield and I have been sailing the same courses for years and only now do we know each other. Its great seeing him out at regattas and even though he is a 505 World Champion I still let him cross when its close (and he is on Starboard). PHEWWWW This concludes the End of summer report and now into the beginning of winter report. When I once asked a friend of mine if he was going to sail a particular regatta he said “No, I can just look at where you finish and where Mark Bear finishes and I should be right around there.” Well is it accurate? I don’t know but at the 2019 Seidenberg New England Masters (Yup New Name and a New trophy) this was (damn you Masters handicap!) Hosted by Wickford Yacht Club for the 5th year, we sailed on the waters off of Quonset Point and the West Shore of Jamestown. This regatta brings out the big guns that all hope to flex some muscle, last year Rob Hallawell came up to put on a master class on light and fluky. This year it started down that same path for Saturday. Light and shifty kept everyone of the 40 sailors on their toes. By the time the wind filled on Sunday the last race could not have come soon enough. Long courses and steep chop kept our legs burning as we still had to pick left or right, wind or current. At results time the flood of Great and Grand Masters was broken up by a few Masters. Peter Shop took the overall over Paddle Champ Scott Ferguson by 2 tiny

points, Peter Vessella took 3rd , Mark Bear 4th. 1st Master was Quantum Sail designer Chris Williams, 1st Apprentice and 1st woman was Christine Neville, and 1st Great Grand Master was 505 WC Dave Penﬁeld!!! If you consider each race to be a stepping stone to the next none is more true than this season, the wind in Wickford kicking up to prep us for the wind in Marblehead. Eastern Yacht Club hosted the 2019 Master North Americans in early October. Yup they paused their frostbiting to host a National event, only in New England. Also a New England thing, hospitality, Tom Dailey and Patrick Andreasen from Eastern worked tirelessly to host an incredible event while carefully keeping salty sailors away from a wedding and supplying housing to every racer that asked for it. I love this place! 6 races sailed over 3 days with 2 on the water 1 light and ﬂuky and 1 heavy and never ending, many of the familiar names rose to the top and while the masters handicap did its best there was no holding back the full rigs of Ray

District Reports Davies for 2nd (1st Master and 2019 European Masters Champ) and Gord Welsh 3rd (1st Apprentice) from trying to challenge the Grand Master Peter Shope 1st Overall 1st Grand Master. Dave Penfield sailed a fantastic regatta to post up as 1st Great Grand Master with New Jerseys Don Hahl in 2nd GGM. 51 Full rigs. The Radial division was just as eventfull as Florida’s Rob Hallawell (1st OA, 1st Master) had an epic battle on both days with Christine Neville (2nd OA, 1st Apprentice). They both owned the 1sts and 2nds of all the races and while Christine owned the light day Rob poured on the power when the breeze picked up. A pre handicap gap of 2 points spread to 7 when scores were finished. That same handicap brought Legend racer Seidenberg (3rd OA, 1st GGM) within 1 point of Neville, how’s that for stress. Matt Doherty of Cedar Point Yacht Clun was 1st Grand Master and 5th OA. Marblehead hosted a fantastic regatta its no wonder why there was such a turnout. 27 Radial Two regattas help define the ending of the summer wetsuit season and usher in the ziplock bag of drysuit season. The first of which is Hyannis Yacht Clubs Octoberfest regatta. 11 Boats showed up to sail the big sail and 4 in the Radial. Once again this needs to be fact checked as the missing Peter Hopple made a showing! Only this time Super-Crew Neil Fowler took the top honors, Steve Kirkpatrick coaxed Neil into the Laser and it seems to be good for him. A string of 1’s bookended by a 5 and 3 let him stand on the top step over Paul Revere III (yup same DNA) in 2nd and Chris Bollengier in 3rd. Hopple you ask? 8th, it must have been light winds. The second end of season regatta is the Fat Boyz Regatta, brain child of Mark Bear and John Bentley. While I know I am a good writer I know when I am bested. Here is Joe Berkeley to say it better……. The regatta for the most cherished trophy in all of sport, The Fat Boys, was contested on a new venue, Mount Hope Bay at the official testing grounds of SmartMooring. Tom Derecktor (Founder and CEO,) Leonora Valvo (Founding Partner,) and Dan Neri (Advisory Board) were pleased to be able to show off the new invention to some of the most influential members of Fleet 413. The team was just back from the Annapolis Boat Show where the invention was well received. This “the mooring that brings your boat to you.” The invention is solar powered, smart phone enabled, and runs on a continuous chain. The patent is pending which is important. Why? Fleet 413 member Steve Kirkpatrick was not at the regatta. He was busy defending the rights of nuts and bolts

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and screws in China. If Steve knew about SmartMooring he would have a knock off in production before the plane touched the ground. Scott Pakenham, a previous winner of The Fat Boys Buddha, was quick to point out the other official sponsor of the regatta, Newport Craft Brewing. The fleet enjoyed all of the adult beverages, including 1639 Pale Ale. There was a lot of beer at the regatta. If it’s all gone, Pakenham is a person of interest. As always, Helly Hansen Schwag Goddess Jenny Daudlin stepped up with handsome trophies, backpacks embroidered with the Fleet 413 logo. Thanks to Christine Neville for making the scores neat and tidy. The RC of Prescott Cronin, Kelly Ferro, Alicia and Tom Kirk did a great job getting off seven races in perplexing conditions. Prescott, a Master Boat Builder, is refitting a complex electric powered hydroplaning powerboat. He also just released a new album. Tom Kirk is threatening to sail with Fleet 413 this winter. He lacks clothing, but if he buys the gear, he will feel obligated to sail. Richie Gordon of the United States Coast Guard Academy dominated the event. He finished with 16 points over 7 races and displayed good form and good sportsmanship on the race course. Gordon has two years left at the Academy, after which he hopes to be deployed to a buoy tender, the Aspen, in San Francisco.

In second overall, Peter Shope, who almost didn’t sail. Why? Well, the new issue of Modern Bride magazine came out and Shope was ruminating over all of the choices he needs to make before The Big Day. Something borrowed? Something blue? Who sits where? Decisions, decisions, decisions. Instead, Shope renamed his Laser “Bridezilla” and decided to sail anyway. I was third overall and won a race which felt good. Sparky Malarkey came to the regatta with me and he enjoyed the shade provided by the trees upon the Derecktor compound. Sparky was recently promoted to Chief of Staﬀ, Head of HR, and Managing Director at Joe Berkeley LLC. He quite enjoys seeing all of the ﬂeet 413 members.

District Reports Back from California, John Kirkpatrick was fourth overall. He had a 1 and a 2 and as always, his boat speed was impressive. Dan Neri was fifth on the day. Recently, Dan and Karen put Scout on the market which created no small amount of marital difficulties in my home. I have always had a crush upon Scout, a Ray Hunt designed HiLiner Gypsy. I adore anything Ray Hunt drew and Scout was no exception. The wife was not amused. Keep in mind I already had my throw out wife. The current wife is a keeper so I can’t irritate her with my love of vintage boats. It all worked out well. Scout went to a great new home with a new owner who knows a thing or two about motors. The great Neal Fowler was sixth overall. He won the first race of the day by a time zone and quipped, “I think I’m going to go in now.” A Jumbo to the core, Neal was part of an epic Tufts team back in the day. Black and white photo is the team in all its glory back in 1975. Time flies. In seventh overall, Ed Adams. He would have done a lot better if he brought Bodie. From a statistical point of view, it is interesting to note that every time Ed wins the day in Fleet 413, Bodie is present. When Bodie is not available, Ed finishes, on average, 56.7894% lower for the day. In eighth overall, the founder of the Fat Boys regatta, Mark Bear. It should be noted that Mark Bear is a highly accomplished individual. Not only has he finished upon the podium at the Laser Master Worlds, he is also a professor at MIT and one of the authors of the textbook, Neuroscience, Exploring the Brain. But of all of Professor Bear’s extraordinary accomplishments, inventing the Fat Boys regatta is the one for which he is most admired by the members of Laser Fleet 413. The inspiration for Mr. Bear’s opus came as a brainstorm following yet another frustrating RIISA regatta in Barrington, Rhode Island in June. The start was early in the day, before the sea breeze filled and the event was a light air flail-a-thon until the afternoon when it was time to sail to shore. That’s when the sea breeze would fill, after the racing was over. Tired of being beaten by sailors who would be well suited to serving as jockeys aboard racehorses or coxswains in crew shells, the big and tall Mr. Bear, who named one of his Lasers “Fat Bastard” and the other “Pork Chop,” took matters into his own hands. Along with long-time friend John Bentley, Bear invented the Fat Boys regatta where sailors would compete for one day during the best breeze of the day. Rather than flop around on the water, the competitors waited on shore for the sea breeze to fill then went out and raced like men until the sunset. After the inaugural Fat Boys regatta, which regatta co-creator Mark Bear won, there was a very large party. Those who attended the party would call the event spirited.

Those who lived in the vicinity called the authorities. All of the competitors survived the first Fat Boys regatta party, but at least one marriage did not. These things happen. The institution of marriage is a mystery and it may well be that if one enthusiastic party can break it, well, it was going to break anyway. In ninth overall, Dave Crowley. Rounding out the top ten, Bob Kinsman. Andy Pimental, Fleet 413’s favorite boat builder, has shipped a brand new Snipe to Guatemala. He was kind enough to build me a new rudder for my Rhodes 19 and I think of Andy every time I rig my boat. It’s a great piece of kit. If Linda Epstein would agree to sail Snipes with me, I would buy an Andy Pimental Snipe. Thus far, Dr. Ep is not interested. Chris Bollengier has launched an official protest with US Sailing regarding the idea that if anyone in Fleet 413 calls Peter Vassella “Uncle Peter” he or she is entitled to get on the list for gently used gear Uncle Peter routinely gives away. Said Bollengier, “Uncle Peter is my uncle. Not yours! Back off!” Fleet Co-Captain Jack McVicker has seen a lot of activity in the Newport real estate market. If you’re looking to upsize, downsize, or otherwise, he is your man. Jack knows the market. He helps you when you’re buying. He helps you when you’re selling. He helps you when the gas goes out and the entire city is on edge. Fleet Co-Captains Scott Pakenham and Jack McVicker encourage you to register for the 2019-2020 season, pay your dues, and sign up for RC. First day of the regular season is this coming Sunday. They hope to see you in Newport. Joe Berkeley writes for Fleet 413 to make a difference. He writes, shoots, and directs content for corporations to make a living. To hire him, write to Berkeley.joseph@gmail.com ……………So this bring us to Frostbiting, Newport’s Fleet 413, Cedar Point Yacht Club, Bristol Yacht Club, Marblehead all have fantastic sailing in the chilly season. Most have extra boats they can lend, reach out even if your in town for the day. Youth- The last few years our home fleet (413) has had the honor of hosting youth sailors. Between our members children ageing up and showing their chops to others coming in from local schools: Brown, URI, Roger Williams, US Coast Guard, Conn College, North Eastern, Portsmouth Abby, Rocky Hill, Tabor and St. Georges. This year our most precious events (Peter Milnes, Fat Boyz) have been won by the under 25 crowd. Our fleet presently has 3 14 year olds mixing it up in their Radials and 4.7’s. One of those posted 2nd American Woman at the 2019 4.7 Junior Worlds. For our sport to flourish we must embrace our youth and encourage our less skilled.

District Reports Thanks and hope to see you on the water. Scott, Chris, Christine Fat Boys Section and Photos By Joe Berkeley Additional Photos By Leonora Valvo

District 8 Elisabeth Mooney Rhode Island The Seawanhaka winter sailing fleet was treated to the full winter sailing experience today - wind, rain, sleet and snow - forcing us to realize that maybe ice fishing is a more sensible pastime. At least that sport offers the comfort of a hut! All those who came out agreed, however, that it was an afternoon well spent; far better than braving the frenzy of shopping. In sharp contrast, the fall offered District 8 Laser sailors the opportunity to enjoy the warm weather and favorable breezes. There were two series to choose from, one at the Sebago Canoe Club, the other at The Dinghy Shop in Amityville. The latter has been hosting Laser racing on the Great South Bay in for over 20 years and attracts sailors of all ages and skill levels. RC, Ryan Fitzsimmons, ran a record forty-three races throughout the six-week series. The scores were close every weekend, with several sailors winning the day. Sailing veteran, Paul Priebe, of Centerport Yacht Club, took first place. He managed to edge out Nora O’Donnell, of Sayville Yacht Club by two points. The series concluded with a family style lunch and awards ceremony. Below is a complete list of standings. Dinghy Shop 2019 Fall Series 1st Place: Paul Priebe 2nd Place: Nora O’Donnell 3rd Place: Sean Murphy 4th Place: Jasper Waldman 5th Place: Rich Cunningham 6th Place: Stephen Gallo 7th Place: Macklin Fluehr 8th Place: Ben Cripton 9th Place: Dan Rapelje 10th Place: Bob Terry 11th Place: Frank Seckler 12th Place: Alan Kriegstein As always, I welcome news from all District 8 venues; please send results, photos and comments to geewyz@ gmail.com.

District 9 Peter Bushnell Upstate New York Three regattas to report as we wrap up the season in District 9 and go into hibernation and planning for 2020. Willow Bank YC, Death Roll Regatta, September 7. Northwest gusty, shifty conditions. Good turnout with 22

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competitors. 5 races were sailed with 1 throw-out. Top five overall: 1) Brian Newbauer [6pts], 2) Ray Cudney [9pts], 3) Peter Bushnell [15pts], 4) Ian Marshall [17pts], 5) Rhys Daunton [19pts]. Top Juniors: 1) Pierson Deloe, 2) Adam Strombridge, 3) Camerson Bernabei, 4) Joe Seiffert, 5) Clementine Matzky Otsego Sailing Club, Glimmerglass Regatta, September 14. South breeze 15-20mph. 5 races sailed, no throw-out. 6 competitors. Brad Dunn sailed beautifully, finishing 3,1,1,1,2. Pete Gould was superfast in the Radial. Final Results: 1) Brad Dunn [8pts], 2) Drew Porter [9pts], 3) Peter Bushnell [15pts], 4) Peter Gould [19pts], 5) Mike Lorenz [24pts], 6) Kurt Ofer [31pts]. Henderson Harbor YC, October 6. 13 competitors, including several Queen’s University racers that came down from Kingston. 4 races were sailed in strong south breeze, 20+mph. Rob Lalonde dominated with four bullets. Top five overall: 1) Rob Lalonde [4pts], 2) Sarah Sackville [15pts], 3) AJ Murphy [20pts], 4) Madison Fertile [21pts], 5) Brandon Johnson [22pts]. All of the above sailed Radial, except for AJ Murphy, full rig.

District 10 Eric Reitinger New Jersey

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Marsh Creek Sailing Club held their annual regatta.10 Lasers participated. Sunny conditions, 60-degree temps, light winds. In true Marsh Creek fashion, the wind did a 180 after the first race. The race committee flip flopped the course and didn›t miss a beat. The Laser class had five different winners in 6 races. The wind picked up nicely in the afternoon allowing the races to move at a good pace. The top five finishers were separated by a mere 2 points. In the end it was David Sikora winning the regatta by tiebreaker over Daily Tipton. Pete Madonna was 3rd. Onepoint back were Jerzy Sliwinski and Bill Parsons. The final District 10 event of 2019 is in the books. On Saturday, October 19th Monmouth Boat Club (MBC) hosted its annual Fall Laser Regatta under sunny skies and a light westerly breeze. Thirteen boats competed in challenging conditions that produced many position changes in each of the four races. In the end, Chris Williams from Brant Beach YC edged out (9pts) fellow club-mate Eric Reitinger (10pts) and MBC’s Chris Henkel (10pts).

District Reports It was one of those days where you could do all the right things and be stuck on the wrong side of the course watching the entire fleet sail by in a light puff only fifty yards away. It was also one of those days where you could capsize just before the final leg of the race, get stung by a jelly fish, and get a lucky break – passing nine boats on the final beat. The wind died towards the end of the fourth race and after a half-hour delay, the race committee wisely called it a day and towed the fleet back ashore where we were treated to a Chipotle buffet, drinks, and awesome prizes thanks in part to Clay Johnson and Colie Sails. We move into the fall and or frostbite series. Marsh Creek ran a fall series though November. Cooper River has been running their annual frostbite series throughout November and some of December but the weather hasn’t cooperated only offering two days of racing so far. Monmouth continues their series throughout the winter and getting solid turnouts. As we look into next year, we have Nationals a short drive down in Norfolk. I can also announce our District 10 Championship dates, May 30-31 at Surf City. This coincides with the annual running of the Orange Coffee Pot.

District 11 Scott Williamson Virginia, Maryland We saw another great turnout with 36 Lasers for the annual Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship at Fishing Bay Yacht Club, on October 12-13, 2019. FBYC’s Laser Fleet hosted a well-organized regatta with great food from Alain Vincey! Racing was delayed a bit on the first day while we waited for the breeze to come, but Fishing Bay did not disappoint with winds better than forecasted. Congratulations to Apprentice Master Dave Waiting for winning the regatta – no small task in this very competitive fleet! On November 9-10, we followed Leo Boucher (St. Mary’s College of Maryland, ‘22) win the 2019 LP Men’s Singlehanded Nationals, in Santa Barbara, CA. The writeup detailed a tough regatta with Leo in the top three after 10 races on the first day. He moved up to 1st during the last 4 races on the final day. Congratulations Leo Boucher! As we geared up for the frostbite season, local sailors were treated to two Laser Clinics with Leo. We are lucky to have such talent so close to home. Currently, we are in the middle of our 2019-2020

Frostbite Series at SSA. 63 hearty sailors are racing each Sunday from 1300 to 1530 in front of the United States Naval Academy. So far, we’ve had some competitive fun in great breeze! Looking ahead, a group of us are making plans to head south for the Florida Masters Championship and Midwinters (Palm Beach SC, January 31-Feburary 2 and US Sailing Center, Martin County, February 4-7, 2020). I know some of us will go back to sail the open Midwinters East (Clearwater CSC, February 19-23, 2020). Hope to see you there!

District 12 Robert Bowden Carolinas, Georgia What a year 2019 has been for D12! We finished the year with our last two events topping 50 boats! The fleets were fairly well split between full and radial rigs in these final 2 events of our District Championship Series. Our August event held at The Carolina Yacht ClubNC, (located in the sailing mecca of Wrightsville Beach) attracted 25 full rigs and 29 radials for the D12 Grand Prix event. Olympic Development Team Member, (and Wrightsville Beach local) Chase Carraway raced in the full rig fleet putting on a boat speed clinic in the process. We dubbed it the “Chase Chase” regatta. We had a day of lighter wind “washing machine” sea conditions that were particularly challenging, but Sunday brought the wonderful sea breeze conditions everyone loves about this venue. In the end Chase put away the full rig class with straight bullets. 2nd went to Martin Willard and 3rd to Rob Bowden. In the Radial fleet Benjamin Smith, (also of Wrightsville Beach) won the radial class with Fl visitor Max Zhalilo taking 2nd and Jacob Fisker-Anderson, (also from FL) taking 3rd. John Rhodes from Lake Norman Yacht Club, NC won the 4.7 rig fleet. Of the 7 events we choose for our 2019 schedule the Laser class represented the largest fleet in 4 of them and we helped the Columbia Sailing Club in Columbia, SC set and all-time attendance record on the 60th anniversary of their Midlands Regatta! The annual District Championship, (best 3 results out of 7 regattas) came down to the final event in Columbia and was a real nail biter. In the full rig fleet 1st place in the

District Reports district had 6 overall points, 2nd and 3rd were tied with 7 points and 4th had 9 points! Here’s my final regatta re-cap write up for 2019. CSC-SC The Midlands Regatta. Going into the event I was leading the district in the full rig class. While I did not win a single event during 2019 I had attended 5 so far and had racked up a string of 2nd place finishes to have a 1 point lead going into Columbia. Columbia, (an inland lake) has the typical inland lake reputation of bring a shifty light air venue. At 200-205 lbs, (depending on the humidity level) I knew I was going to have my work cut out for me just on the conditions alone. The tough competition exponentially increased the complexity of me holding my shaky lead and hopefully winning my 1st D12 championship. Not only that, it was just my luck that a typically lightly attended regatta became the largest full rig fleet we’d see all year at 30 boats! Then we had some gun slingers show up to boot! While a couple were not candidates for the championship, (they had not completed enough events to qualify) they were certainly going to be sailors to recon with. Connor Byrne, (2009 Irish National Champ) has re-emerged in Columbia, SC and Robert Burke from Atlanta made his initial D12 event appearance. Ad those two in with Dan Birmingham, (exStandford Gun Slinger) and previous, (2 times actually) D12 Champ Stanley Hassinger, (who was 1 point behind me) sailing on his home waters. I was about as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs… By the numbers Stanley, Dan or I would win the D12 Championship at this event or not. Both Dan and Stanley needed a 1st or 2nd, (with me finishing 2nd or worse) to win the event. The reality was one or both were highly likely to end up either 1st or 2nd in this event. I just needed to make sure neither of them got the finish they needed, but with two super talented competitors I could not pick one to bury and honestly both are so talented my chances were better to just sail my own regatta as best I could. It would have been more dangerous to try and match race either of these guys as I could have easily match raced myself right out of the championship!

Race 1- Light, shifty westerly breeze. Pin favored start. I found myself pinned under a boat on the line with 30 seconds to go before the start. The wind has just about died, but there’s a big hole behind us so I put in a nice roll jibe out from under the other sailor and scoot across the line on port about 2 seconds after the gun. Nice clear lane, pointing right at the weather mark. Big header hits I tack out. A few boat lengths later I see Stanley coming at me on port and in pressure. I put the best leebow on him ever, (so said Stanley) and go back right. Breeze swings back left and I’m lifted to the mark on port. I hit the mark with

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a solid 10 BL lead on the boat behind me. Those positions remain for the rest of the race. Bullet! I’m off to a great start. Race 2- Identical to R1 with set up. However, I get a little gutsy and try to get closer to the pin on the start. 10 seconds to the gun a huge header comes in, (really light pressure here like 4 knots) and a stack of us at the pin get bunched up and can’t make it. The boats behind us are headed too so I jam over onto port again for the clear port tack start. Again, same as R1 light air, but more upwind tacking on this one. Round the first two marks in 1st. Robert Burke overtakes me on the next to final leg. Stanley threatens, but I get a lucky shift and stay ahead to finish 2nd. Whew! Day 1 is over! After the results I am winning the regatta with an 8 pt buffer over Stanley, more over Dan, (but I don’t pay attention to Robert on the score board…..That was a mistake…). Great party Saturday night and we hold our annual D12 meeting to discuss the success of 2019 and plans to keep the “Mo” going in 2020. Tent camping at the club, (my favorite) and the wind starts howling around midnight with a cold front taking temps into the low 40’s. Excited and unable to sleep well I’m up at 5, (we also had daylights savings time hit us that night) having my morning shake and helping the kitchen staff just enough to get the 1st cup of coffee. It’s cold…It’s windy, (my conditions!) I put on every piece of gear I brought and hit the water excited to put this one to bed!!! Race 3. Northerly breeze. Nice, solid 12 with maybe 14 in gusts. Boat is favored, Starboard is looking too be the long tack. Instead of being conservative I go to win the boat, but set up about 20 seconds late. I’m buried. Gun goes off and I’m tacking out at the boat as soon as I cross the line. I’m immediately out of phase, but have to get a lane 1st before I can worry about breeze direction. A few tacks later I’m finding clear lanes and my new electronic compass is keeping me on point! I wave a few out of phase boats across my bow and manage to get from the teens into the top ten by the 1st weather mark. Nice DW leg with some gains and maybe one or two passes then back upwind. Really turned on now. Breeze is beginning to falter and ocilate a lot, but I’m in phase with clean tacks. Finally able to sort out the boats in front of me now. Stanley is leading!!! Crap! There’s 2 boats between us. He’s cut my points lead in half! Arrhgghhgf!!! Ok. Stay focused. I manage to motor on the next upwind leg to a close 4th place before the final DW leg. On the DW I’m feeling pretty good, but the top 3 have extended far enough that I can’t get to them on the short DW. Dan and another sailor sail high and Stanley takes the low road. They pass him! Stanley gets 3rd and I’m 4th. Ok, I’m fine giving a point to Stanley. That’s my wakeup call. Don’t blow the next start!!! Race 4- Final race- Northerly is dying all new pressure is coming in from the left. The plan. Get off the line clean, go left, extend with boat speed and tack on shifts. Execution time! 1st start I win the pin, wind swings way

District Reports right. This is bad! General Recall… Thank you God! Next start U flag. Pressure still left. Let’s do mid-line start clean and go. Sounds good. I blow it again! Set up too late, get stuck at the boat, on the right side of the course where the pressure is dying. Making matters worse, I have to go more RIGHT to get a clear lane. Oh no! I blew it! Stanley is putting on a clinic on leg one. Staying middle/left in pressure and in phase. I’m trying to make something out of the right. Stanley rounds the weather mark in a solid 1st. When I finally get around I’m somewhere between 15 and 20th. It’s over, breeze is dying. The rich are getting richer and us in the back are being left behind…..I hang my head. Say some stuff I can’t print… Then mutter to myself. There’s still some race left. It’s not over…., (yeah right)…I pick my head up round the offset and jibe into a whif of new pressure. Everyone around me is trimmed out by the lee but the new breeze is almost a beam reach, but it’s super light. I kneel down on the low side, (ugh my knees) trim in and start to scoot across the water. Quickly I gobble up 3 boats to leeward and make excellent gains on a group of 5 dead ahead. Coming from astern I creep in and then make a big turn to sail high to get above them for the inside overlap. It doesn’t work. They figure it out and just get ahead before the circle, but they end up in a huge pinwheel rounding. I slow down and round inside all of them clear then tack away. 8 boats gained on the DW. Going back up for the final upwind I’m now in traffic control with the Radial fleet that just started and still trying to stay in phase and keep, (what’s now) the 10 boats still ahead of me in sight. Stanley has me by at least 3 points at this juncture and his lead has grown more. On the upwind I’m doing well. I hail to a couple of Stbd tack radial boats “tack or cross” and they both tack away. I’m thinking they need some rules work… Continuing, now the middle right is paying and I’m in the perfect spot. I gain 2 boats. On the final DW I round in 8th, (but I’ve lost count and am not positive how many are still ahead with all the Radials in the mix) and the wind is just gone. It’s drift city. There’s one boat ahead and to leeward and then Conner Byrne dead ahead. After that the gap is so large to the front group I can’t tell who is where. I sail up a little. Feel the breeze man, feel the breeze! Where’s it coming from?!? I start turning my head to see if I can feel anything on one of my exposed cheeks just under my sunglasses. There it is! Just off the starboard aft quarter. I jibe over and get the boom max out almost rolling the boat over on top of me.. Don’t capsize!!! Settle! Settle!.... I move max weight forward and hold the base of the mast with my left hand to keep the boom rotated out. One foot hooked into to the hiking strap to keep my bottom half in the boat. Now hold this demented version of “Warrior laying on it’s side” pose for 15 minutes. I start sliding away from Connor and putting space between me and the others. Round the final DW mark for the reach leg to the finish and I’m counting boats bobbing in the water just past the finish. 1,2,3,4,5---- 1,2,3,4,5---- I’m 6th. I’m 6th? I’m 6th!!! I did it. I won! Stanley put 5 points on me, but I’m still good by 2! Whooo Hooo! (Of course this is all internal celebration). I sail over to Dan, (who had finished 4th).

Dan? Am I correct that there are 5 full rigs that finished in the front group? Yes. Yes!!! And there you have it. The regatta came down to a 1st place tie between Robert Burke and I. It was an exact score tie so it went to who beat who last and he got me. So one of our “wild card” hotshots won the event and I got 2nd, (again) and Stanley finished 3rd. See, I told you it was going to be close and it was a mistake for me to not pay attention to Robert. Full disclosure.. I’ve been actively chasing this award for the past 3 years and I mean hard. In 2017 I missed it by 1 point loosing to John Porter. In 2018 Stanley walked away with the award while I struggled with my boat speed trying to figure out the new MKII sail and composite top section, bridesmaid again. I was also a little mistake prone with hitting marks and a few capsizes which never helps. To get my name on these perpetual awards means so much. I have my name included with so many competitor’s I have had the good fortune to sail with and against, learn from and consider as friends. To me this is what our class is all about. Not to mention I needed to bring something home after dragging my wife and kid all over lower GA and the Carolinas for the last 3 years! Finishing 2019 in the D12 District Championship Series the winners are: Full rig: 1st Rob Bowden – 1st overall and 1st Master overall 2nd Martin Willard – 2nd overall and 1st Grand Master overall 3rd Stanley Hassinger – 3rd overall and 1st Apprentice Master overall 4th Dan Birmingham – 4th overall Open class 1st Great Grand Master- Finn Hassing Top Junior- TJ O’Brien Radial Fleet: 1st Benjamin Smith 2nd Jacob Usher 3rd Alex Bagnoni 4th Kate Zurinskas and Top Female Sailor 4.7 Rig: 1st Garner Mobley and his 3rd year in the 4.7 rig fleet! Other Awards: TJ O’Brien won the 2019 “Iron Butt” award for most regattas traveled and the 2019 “Rah Rah” award for getting Laser sailors back out at Lake Norman Yacht Club. Devin McKim also won a “Rah Rah” award for his tireless and continued work building the Raleigh, NC area Laser Fleet! By the numbers: D12 had 116 different skippers compete in at least 1 of 7 different events, (in 2018 we had 93 skippers sail and in 2017 we had 76 skippers compete. Anyone see a trend???) 65- full rig skippers, 49- Radial rig skippers, 4- 4.7 rig skippers 16 full rigs qualified for the district championship be competing in at least 3 events 9 radial rigs qualified 42 sailors were class members. The district had 58 registered members as of 10/21/19. We did something cool this year that people seem to love.

District Reports With the help of Allison Hassinger, (Stanley’s creative wife who is also a ringer at award sourcing) we “Branded” D12 with Bumper stickers, a traveling Banner and D12 T-shirts, (over 20 on our first order). People are showing their D12 pride! Something else we did that was pretty cool this year was we assembled a 3-person team and raced a J22 in the SAYRA Club Championship event held in Charleston during mid-September. Robert Key, Stanley Hassinger and Rob Bowden graced the College of Charleston Sailing Team dock adorned in new D12 team shirts. “Who let these Laser guys come.” Was the overheard grumble in the crowd! However, D12 joined SAYRA as an associate member this year which permitted us to compete with the 15 other registered SAYRA region yacht clubs for the championship. The racing was a bit disappointing with only 2 flights held, but D12 represented with a bullet in R2. R1 didn’t go so well for us and we ended up 7th overall after multiple tie breaks. Anyway, it was a blast and we’re gonna do it again next year. We decided whoever wins our annual District Series gets the right to represent the district and pick his or her crew to do so! Watch out SAYRA. We’re coming for ya! Speaking of joining our regional sailing body. During the past 2 years we decided to hold more of our D12 regattas in conjunction with, (or piggy backed onto) events that were marked as SAYRA Jr Championship Series events. This is organized much like the D12 series in that there are an even number of inshore and coastal events to choose from and you have to compete in a certain amount to qualify for the series. We saw a pathway to showing Junior sailors that there’s more to lasers beyond the radial. As a result combining events has created fantastic growth not only in the radial rig but also the full rig as ex-sailor parents have been jumping out of the mini-vans and back into the Laser! If you have the ability to do something similar in your district I highly recommend it! To continue the “Mo” In 2020 we’ll have 7 events again, (up from 6 in 2018,2017…) and we’ve raised the bar to 4 regattas needed to qualify for the Championship trophy. We are also bringing on board D12 Co-Secretary Devin McKim. He’s full of “Mo” and who doesn’t need Mo “Mo”? Just ask Larry and Curly. They’ll tell you… He has stretched the salary cap a little, but his talent is well worth the cost. We expect to have our full 2020 schedule released by the 1st week of February. However, we’ll be kicking off the season in late February with an intense 2-day training session for radial rigs and full rigs. Stefano Peschiera, (2016 and 2020 Peru Olympic Laser Representative) will be coaching the full rig clinic and Lucas Sawin, (2019 Cressy Winner) will be coaching the radial clinic. These will intense clinics reserved for D12 sailors and the first 15 to register for each class will receive some excellent “Laser Whisperer” training! Expect these sailors to be red hot for our 1st event which will be held at Lake Lanier Sailing Club, (just outside of Atlanta) on the weekend of March 7th/8th 2020! If the seminars go as well as we think they will we’ll hold another during the year for those who wished they’d done the first one.

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2019 has been a great year and we ended it so strong! Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday and Happy New Year to everyone. We’ll see you in 2020!

District 13 James Liebl Florida Yeah baby, just like the last Laser Sailor dispatch, I put off writing this one until the very last minute. So, my procrastination dictates that I’m going to just let this one rip as thoughts come to mind. I can’t waste time getting my ideas in order as I must move on to important stuff like finalizing with my Xmas Gift Wish List. That list takes some serious time and effort. Although, I can’t help but notice none of you ever seem to get me anything from the list! Speaking of wish lists, you guys asked for some serious regatta action, and this Fall delivered some serious regatta action. Here’s how it went: Coconut Grove Sailing Club Open Regatta (also BBYRA Series Event), September 29 1. Rogelia Villanueva 2. Francis Hawley 3. Taylor Scheuermann 4. James Liebl 5. Marcello Correa 6. Roberto Laub 7. Steve Schwartz 8. Robert Shaw Key Biscayne Yacht Club (BLUE MARLIN JEWELRY SPONSORED) Fall Laser Series Regatta #2, October 12 & 13 Laser 4.7 1. Spencer Dominguez 2. Jackson McAliley 3. Conor Kellett 4. Tyler Moris 5. Tommy McCormick 6. 204770 (uh, you might want to register next time, duh!!!) 7. Benjamin Reeser 8. Luica Gil 9. 8 (uh, you might want to register too. Duh as well!!) 10. Paola Alvarez 11. Bruno Wencelblat 12. Alessandro Gregori 13. Conner Brandon 14. 9 (ay carumba, talk to your buddies about registering) 15. Isabella Kellett 16. Luciano Solorzaono 17. Sebastian Lopez 18. Aden Weinberg 19. Eva Gonzalez

District Reports Laser Radial 1. Humberto Porrata 2. Francisco Aguerrebare 3. 184447 (really? Again? Register holmes!) 4. Martin Barrera 5. Sammy Clark 6. Marina Geilen 7. 208408 (do we need a class on registering?) 8. Dorje Hopkins 9. Roberto Rodriguez 10. Steven Schwartz 11. Jack Gonzalez Laser Standard 1. Alex Gonzalez A couple of notes on this…first, since the theme here is gifts, look who is sponsoring this series-BLUE MARLIN JEWELRY (www.bluemarlinjewelry.com). If you need a gift for the significant other, the potential significant other, or yourself if you don’t have a significant other, check these folks out. Blue Marlin Jewelry has everything from engagement rings (yikes, what are you thinking!) to Rolex watches and everything in between. Second, check out the participation numbers on the Key Biscayne Series! 30 boats combined fleets, baby! Want some good racing? C’mon and sail the Key Biscayne Series. Well-run racing, reasonable start times, low cost entry, good competition, fun format, and a jewelry sponsor. Yo!-that checks every single box for FUN. Melbourne Yacht Club Fall Regatta (October 19 & 20) Check it, my friends! We have breaking news from a correspondent courtesy of BRIAN GILCHER on this one. Here’s Brian’s report: Melbourne Yacht Club’s Fall regatta was held on October 19-20. Saturday the 19th was unfortunately cancelled with the forecast calling for small craft advisories and a tornado watch. Great call by the RC! Sunday more than made up for the lost day with a full day of sailing (5 races) and a challenging Westerly that went from 10 knots early on to 14 with gusts later in the day. And with the shifts it made for a course whose favored side was anything but predictable. It kept the RC on its toes, changing the course multiple times, as well as the sailors. In the Lasers there were 3 full rigs and 2 4.7 youth that sailed. It was good to see youth out there and they clearly had a great time, with us ‘veterans’ shring pointers here and there. There was also a strong Sunfish group, with the legend Dick Tillman still out there going strong in that group, along with 420’s and a lone Raider. Finishing order in the full rigs was Mike Taylor in 3rd, Kevin Ratigan in 2nd on a tie breaker, and Brian Gilcher in 1st. In the 4.7’s it was Jackson Bjorklund in 1st followed by Thomas Schuerger. Melbourne Yacht Club does a great event, and this

one although shortened was still as well run as any of them, which made for a fun day on the water! Regards, Brian Gilcher Hey babies, this a super-duper time for me to remind you to send me your regatta reports. If you don’t send them to me, I don’t know about them. If you send them to me, I’ll include them in my brilliant and scintillating articles in this very magazine. Coconut Grove Sailing Club Halloween Howler (Youth Event), October 26 & 27 Laser 4.7 1. Spencer Dominguez 2. Jackson Mcaliley 3. Jake Homberg 4. Conor Kellett 5. Tommy McComick 6. Kevin Gosselin 7. Kathryn Danielson (Top Female) 8. Jack Redmond 9. Tyler Morris 10. Sidney Moyer 11. William Wardlaw 12. Peyton Weaver 13. Bruno Wencelblat 14. Daniel DeOliveira 15. Benjamin Reeser 16. Mcaulay Carter 17. Luciana Solorzano 18. Parker Bustamante 19. Lucia Gil 20. Sebastian Lopez 21. Paola Alvarez 22. Marlon Mulkay 23. Evan Wern 24. Cole Crep 25. Eva Gonzalez 26. Alessandro Gregori 27. Conner Brandon Laser Radial 1. Alex Gonzalez 2. Javier Garcon 3. Preston Weaver 4. Samuel Clark 5. Marina Geilen (Top Female) 6. Martin Barrera 7. Dorje Hopkins 8. Parker Eckert 9. Jack Gonzalez 10. Francisco Aguerrebe 11. Humerto Porrata Coral Reef Yacht Club Open Regatta (also BBYRA Series Event), November 3 1. Rogelio Villanueva 2. Roberto Laub

District Reports 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

James Liebl Marcello Correa Dave Hughes Wayne Colahan Taylor Scheuermann Steve Schwartz Robert Shaw

A sidebar on the Coral Reef Open, the fellow in 5th is none other than the 2016 and 2020 U.S. Olympic 470 representative Dave Hughes. Yeah, that Dave Hughes. As most of your know, one of the coolest things about sailing Lasers is that the person going down the launch ramp next to you may, in fact, be an Olympic, or America’s Cup, or Volvo Ocean Race (or whatever it’s called these days), or multi-class world champ sailor. ALL, and I mean AL (did I say “ALL”) the sailing rockstars are stabbing the Laser (ILCA Dinghy) tiller about at some point. Since Dave Hughes spent the last 8 years racing throughout the world at the highest level, he dropped some epic “411” The 411 covered race course set up and race committee actions. Here’s what Olympian Dave noticed and shared. There were two separate breezes, a gradient from the northeast and a light seabreeze from the southeast. While you might expect those two breezes to merge into a combined easterly, the RC set up in exactly the wrong spot a couple of miles downwind of Key Biscayne. The Key bent and diminished both breezes, resulting in the course being in the “convergence zone” of the gradient and seabreeze. Essentially, the two breezes got redirected so they ran head on into each other, resulting in no breeze in the middle of the course. Ideally, the RC would have moved the course to one side or the other by about a mile. That one mile would have made all the difference, placing the course firmly in the gradient breeze or firmly in the seabreeze. While the view from RC boat looked great, i.e. the course was square to the median of the combined breeze, the racing conditions were not great. The competitors were forced into a Las Vegas bet, choose hard left for the gradient or choose hard right for the seabreeze. Everyone had to gamble they picked the side that would randomly break through with pressure on the layline back to the weather mark. If you picked correctly (got the coin flip correct), you were at the top. If you picked wrong, down the tubes you went. From the sailor’s perspective, the moral of the story is two fold. First, if the RC is setting up in the convergence zone of the breeze, pleasantly and politely suggest they move either right or left. Second, if the RC insists on setting up in the convergence zone, you have to hammer one side or the other and pray to whatever deity you believe in that you’re on the side of the last shift/pressure. The middle of the course may have you pointed at the mark and looking like a champ early in the beat, but the middle will also certainly betray you late in the beat in convergence conditions. As Stuart Walker (anyone remember him?) said, “have the courage of conviction to get to your side.” Yeah, I paraphrased that. But, you get the idea.

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Key Biscayne Yacht Club (BLUE MARLIN JEWELRY SPONSORED) Fall Laser Series Regatta #3, November 9 & 10 Laser 4.7 1. Sammy Clark 2. Jackson McAliley 3. Spencer Dominguez 4. Conor Kellett 5. John Wood 6. Ben Reeser 7. Tyler Moris 8. Tommy McCormick 9. Bruno Wencelblat 10. Daniel de Oliveira 11. Paola Alvarez 12. William Wardlaw 13. Alessandro Gregori 14. Lucia Gil 15. Isabela Kellet 16. Aden Weinberg 17. Conner Brandon 18. Sebastian Lopez 19. Cole Crep Laser Radial 1. Alex Gonzalez 2. Humerto Porrata 3. Monica Wilson 4. Parker (uh, might want to list your last name on the registration from next time brah) 5. Martin Barrera Laser Standard 1. Dorje Hopkins Reviewing, a couple of comments on this regatta. First, did you notice the sponsor of this series? It’s BLUE MARLIN JEWELRY (www.bluemarlinjewerly.com). No, I have NO ﬁnancial, or other, interest in BLUE MARLIN JEWELRY. But, I do believe in shameless promotion of BLUE MARLIN JEWELRY, or any other sponsor, because they’re supporting our sailing. Looking for jewelry? At least check out BLUE MARLIN JEWELRY. I am not ashamed of my promotion! And yes, a Rolex watch is one of the items on my Xmas Wish List, so if you’re so inclined, you can buy one for me at www.bluemarlinjewelry.com. Again, I am not ashamed. Second, look at the changes in the results for the KBYC series from regatta #2 to regatta #3. There are some big changes. Want to get better? Want to get faster? Sail the Key Biscayne series. The people that are sailing it are getting better. And, they’re having fun. Florida Yacht Club, District 13 Championships, November 16 & 17 Check out Hal Gilreath’s report in separate article on the toughest District Champs in North America. close to 90 boats competed across all the ﬂeets. How do we get that to at least 125 boats for 2020? As always, I know what you’re thinking-“why didn’t James list me or our regatta in the results? I didn’t list

District Reports you because I don’t know anything about you or your regatta. Fix that by sending me your regatta results. Send them to me at gamedayparking@yahoo.com. If you don’t send them, I don’t know about them. Simple as that, my brothers and sisters. If the results of the Fall regattas are not enough of a gift, here are the upcoming gifts of future regattas: Coconut Grove Sailing Club, OPEN Orange Bowl Regatta, December 26-30 OPEN folks. “Open” as in anyone can sail it. Same dates as youth Orange Bowl, but OPEN TO ALL. You’re out of the parking and launching mess of the youth event, but still in the same great Biscayne Bay tradewind conditions. Plus, you’re in Miami! YOUTH Orange Bowl Regatta, Coral Reef Yacht Club, December 26-30 Biscayne Bay Yacht Racing Association Series Race Day, January 5 Key Biscayne Yacht Club Spring Laser Series #1 (sponsored by Blue Marlin Jewelry) January 18 & 19 Round the Island Race, Key Biscayne Yacht Club, February 1-this race is pretty cool, way different from most Laser racing. It’s literally a race around Key Biscayne, 20 miles. Part of it is in the Bay, part is on the ocean as you go around the Key. If you’re looking for a little “adventure,” this is it. Florida Masters Champs January 31-February 2 Masters Midwinters February 4-February 7 Key Biscayne Yacht Club Spring Laser Series #2 (sponsored by Blue Marlin Jewelry) February 15 & 16 Laser Midwinters East February 19- February 23 Biscayne Bay Yacht Racing Association Series Race Day, February 22 Miami Sailing Week, March 5-March 14 Biscayne Bay Yacht Racing Association, March 29 Key Biscayne Yacht Club Spring Laser Series #3 (sponsored by Blue Marlin Jewelry), April 11 & 12 And again, I know what you’re thinking…”why isn’t my regatta listed in this article?” Well, as always, your regatta ain’t listed ‘cause I don’t know about your regatta. Here’s how to fix that-post your regatta to the calendar at www. laser.org. Make sure when you post it that you check the “District 13” box. That way, when I finally sit down in a panic to write these articles, I will know about your regatta. If it isn’t listed on the calendar at www.laser.org, I won’t know about it. Again, simple. Returning back to the theme of “gifts,” anyone looking for a boat? Well, find your ride by looking at the classifieds at www.laser.org. Did you know that www.laser.org is the website for the North American Laser (ILCA Dinghy) class? Well, it is! So, if you’re looking for a boat, or you want to sell a boat, either check out or post it to the classified section of the www.laser.org site. By posting your boat for sale there, any Laser (ILCA Dinghy) sailor, or potential sailor, around the world has a chance to see it.

Lately, I’ve gotten several emails from folks asking me to email blast their boat for sale out to the District 13 distribution list. As many of you know, I’m stingy with email blasts, so I won’t blast individual “boats for sale” out. While I would certainly like any Laser (ILCA Dinghy) sold to remain in District 13, I don’t want to overwhelm or dilute email blasts with “boats for sale.” Find your new ride, or sell your old ride, by posting it the www.laser.org classifieds. Yep, that posting will be available to everyone in the world (marketing 101, amigos) so the boat may relocate out of District 13, but that gives one central place to buy/sell boats. One other thought about buying/selling boats (and other District 13 stuff), we’ve been trying a google group as a means of communication. With a google group, any District 13 sailor can post whenever they wish to publicize regattas, boats for sale, talk about sailing tips, or whatever else. Apparently, it’s been a challenge for folks to post. So, courtesy of District 13 sailor TJ O’Brien, there is now a pdf tutorial about how to post on the google group. Below is the link to the google group. You can also find it by searching “Laser District 13 at google groups.” https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/laserdistrict13/ kIIdWHW8FEo Alright, I got to get the Xmas wish list finalized, so I’m outta here. Who is getting me the Rolex Submariner? The Hinckley 36’ Classic Picnic Boat? The Porsche 911 GT2 RS? Let me know ASAP so I don’t end up with two picnic boats and two Porsches. I only have space for one of each. See you on the line or in the line up,

District 15 Griffin Orr Texas “This fall was a wonderful time to sail in the great state of Texas! We had two scheduled District Regattas, first Hood at Houston Yacht Club and second Wurstfest at Lake Canyon Yacht Club, our district Championship. We had 9 boats in attendance at Hood with Andres Boccalandro of Houston Yacht Club dominating with 8 points after 5 races. Close behind was Raleigh Christman of nearby Seabrook Sailing Club with 13 points and Dave Ryden rounding out the top 3. Next, the fleet moved onto Wurstfest on the first weekend of November. Turnout was strong with 20 boats in attendance including 2 boats from Colorado and one from Arizona. Conditions on Saturday were extremely light and variable, with the race committee impressively running 3 races. There were some shifts of 90+ degrees and complete dead spots on the race course so no lead was certain. Sunday was much more cooperative with winds of 10-20 proving a much needed change from the previous days conditions. Winning both the regatta and the 2019 series was Griffin Orr of the Corinthian Sailing Club followed by Ethan Froleich of Austin Yacht Club and Doug Peckover in the full rigs. In Radials, Aubin Hattendorf of Corinthian

District Reports Sailing Club dominated with Cameron Colonna and Caleb Fogle rounding out the top 3. This year we were also able to present the Iron Man trophy to Craig Berleme. The Iron Man trophy is awarded to the individual who attended every regatta on the circuit schedule. Moving into 2020, we start the year with the fourth annual Rock the Ice Regatta at the Corinthian Sailing Club on January 25/26! Looking forward to seeing everyone on the water soon!“

District 19 Ken Swetka Michigan

Introducing Billy Vogel as the new D19 Secretary Frostbiting in Michigan will be near impossible by the time you read this but the big new for our district is a new secretary. Billy Vogel will be taking over. It will be exciting to get some new, youthful, leadership for our district. Please support him by getting your schedules and regatta reports to him promptly! No Coast Championships Jul 31 – Aug 2 In 2020 this will be at Crescent Sail Yacht Club on Lake St Clair. Located just North of Detroit Crescent is right on Lake St Clair so the racing area is usually in front of the club. Tuesday’s at Portage Yacht Club This series was again well attended with about 10 boats each week. Keep it up! Full results: http://ms-pyc.com/portage-yacht-club/sailing/ racing/current-scores/small-boat-silver-series/ No Sweat – Portage Lake Sep 21 This annual regatta brought in 24 boats! Congratulations to the top 3 ﬁnishers, Chad Coberly. Rick Lyons, and Steve Varnum. Full results: http://ms-pyc.com/portage-yacht-club/sailing/ racing/current-scores/2019-no-sweat-regatta/ Lake Lansing Annual Regatta Aug 24 Twenty four boats came to this annual event which is usually D19’s largest. This year there were 22 boats that sailed 7 races. Top 3 ﬁnishers were EJ O’Mara, Craig Pearson, and Chad Coberly. From the Lansing Sailing Club FB Page (results image there too) : Thanks to all the Laser racers from near and far who came to make a great day of racing, our generous sponsor Avon Sailboats for the wonderful donations, to our Race Committee handling the shifty and changing conditions on the Lake, to all our members and families who arranged the “famous” post regatta cookout! D19 Regattas Jul 31 – Aug 2 No Coast Championships – Crescent Sail YC

www.Laser.org

That’s all for now from D19 (Michigan)! As always check www.D19Laser.org, www.Laser.org, or www.facebook. com/D19Laser for even more schedules, reports, and photos!

District 20 Sean Lennon Wisconsin, Illinois

spatricklennon11@gmail.com District 20 has completed a great season of racing and we are beginning to plan a great regatta schedule for 2020. As we begin the transition to a new year. I wanted to give members a chance to talk about their events. Fall Laser Regatta: Carlyle This year’s annual Fall Laser Regatta (2019 D20 Champs & Grand Prix) was another great success! The following volunteers helped make it happen: David Crosby, Terri Crosby, Steve Crump, Brice Davis, Patti Davis, Mark Hood, Joe Kasperek, Panduranga Koya, Cheryl Muich, Patricia Ribaudo, Adam Sampson and CSA Laser Fleet Captain, Troy Tolan. Thanks again for a job well done! We had a special treat with live entertainment featuring Ashley Lusk (of American Idol fame) and Abraham LaVoi. Even though they played to a small crowd of tired volunteers and Laser sailors, it turned out to be a great evening of fun. Out of towners especially liked the music and entertainment. We raced a total of 9 races, 6 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday in generally windy conditions with gusts late Saturday in the 20s. Here are the final results for the Laser District 20 Championship and Grand Prix: Laser Standard (Full Rig): 1- John Scherer, Oshkosh 2- Paul Todd Merrill, Creve Coeur 3- Troy Tolan, CSA Laser Radial: 1- Val Simhauser, IBYC 2- Bhavya Koya, CSA 3- John Folwell, CSA Laser 4.7 1- Carter Hood, CSA Thanks to all the Laser sailors for attending! Troy Tolan Fall Classic: Oshkosh Yacht Club This is a club event that has occurred for many years in Oshkosh. It was one of my favorites growing up. This year Tom Adams (OYC Laser Fleet Captain) extended an invitation to the Laser fleet from the Neenah Nodaway Yacht Club. The event fielded some great sailors and a wide range of conditions. We were even treated to a Fox Valley Laser history lesson by John Ross. A big thank you goes out to David Sitter for officiating. Thanks also goes out to Bill and Will Wyman and the others that helped with the committee boat set-up. This event was won by John

District Reports Scherer. The 2020 racing season is shaping up to be a strong one here in District 20. Our Schedule for 2020 has a number of conﬁrmed events and some with dates still pending. Please see the following list: Island Bay Laser Regatta: Island Bay Yacht Club - June ? Great Lakes Masters Championship: Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club - June ? Hobelman Regatta: Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club: June ? Ephraim Yacht Club Laser Regatta: Ephraim Yacht Club - July 18-19 Milwaukee Bay One-Design: Milwaukee Yacht Club August 1-2 District 20 Championship and Grand Prix: Oshkosh Yacht Club - August 22-23 Red Flannels Regatta: Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club September ? CSA Fall Regatta: Carlyle Sailing Association - October ? Fall Classic: Oshkosh Yacht Club - October ?

(7 boats), Radial (19) and 4.7s (7) ﬂeets participating. Ian Elliot took the honors in the Standard rig, Hannah Weaver in the Radial, and Alex Zaputil in the 4.7. The Seattle Laser Fleet continues to put on its own Frostbite series which draws like-minded singlehanders to the chilly waters of Puget Sound throughout winter. As Northwest coaches adopt the Laser 4.7 as the logical step up from an Optimist, the future looks bright for

As dates are ﬁnalized they will be added to the District 20 site and Facebook page. Have a safe and fun beginning to 2020 and remember we will all be sailing again soon.

District 22 Kurt Hoehne Pacific Northwest The Laser story for the Paciﬁc Northwest increasingly involves (yippee!) youth. As another successful season drew to a close on the Columbia River Gorge, the scene to the north started heating up. In September a successful PCCs was held with 41 Radials and 23 Standards, won by Moira Dewey and Ian Elliott, respectively. The week before, the annual Octoberfest at Sail Sand Point in Seattle saw 30 Radials and 11 4.7s.

Laser participation in 2020. The Columbia Gorge Racing Association WIND youth clinics are already on the July calendar.

In lieu of the annual CYC Seattle PSSC regatta, local Laser sailors loaned their boats to visiting college and high school sailors competing to represent the region in the College and High School National Singlehanded Championships. A total of 27 competitors sailed in the event in the Shilshole Bay area of the Puget Sound. The winners moved on to Santa Barbara for the ﬁnals. Back at it in November, CYC Seattle welcomed all ages to its annual Turkey Bowl with Standard

Photos by Mike Powell of the PCCs --see full article on page 23

District Reports District 23 Geoff Hurwitch Arizona, Utah, Colorado District 23 wrapped up the 2019 season with the Grand Lake regatta in Colorado which was held in mid-August, followed by the end of season regatta, the Fall Regatta, at the Park City Sailing Association in mid-September. Both were well attended with about thirty sailors at Grand Lake and nearly twenty at Park City. 2020 kicks oﬀ again with the Birthday Regatta at the Arizona Yacht Club in Phoenix, Feb 7-9, 2020 arizonayachtclub.org Park City Sailing is exploring the return of the SkiGatta in late March or early April. Sailing on Saturday and ski racing on Sunday. info@parkcitysailing.org or sailpc.org for additional information.

District 24 Stephen Aguilar NorCal We had a great year in district 24 This was the first year of the West Coast sailing district 24 laser Grand Prix. There were 15 events throughout the district. Everything from Mountain Lakes to the Pacific ocean and of course the world-famous city front. There were 86 competitors in the standard fleet and 60 competitors in the radial fleet. The season starts in March at the Richmond yacht club and ends in October at the St. Francis yacht club. This year we had a new event at the Alameda Community Sailing Center. This is a nonprofit center on Alameda Island. They put on one day of short course racing in seaplane lagoon and the second day they did the Sir Francis Chichester around Alameda race. This is a very exciting race with six bridges that you have to capsize your boat to go under to get around Alameda Island. A great time was had by all. One of the highlights of the season for me was the Lake Tahoe Laser championships put on by the Tahoe yacht club held at stampede reservoir. We had 40 boats for this event an all time high and great conditions. 2019 Grand Prix winners. This year the Standard class was won by a newcomer to Northern California Julian Soto. Julian is a young fit and solid sailor and deserved the championship trophy this year. In second place was last year‘s winner Lance Kim and in third place was Emilio Castelli our resident winemaker. So we had an young sailor a apprentice master and a grandmaster filling the podium.

www.Laser.org

In the radial class Toshinari Takayanagi continued his domination . Toshi is a grandmaster who has proven to everyone that practice and determination pay off. Toshi is fierce on the water and one of the nicest guys to chat with at the dock. Congratulations Toshi......... The staff at West Coast Sailing provided some great prizes for the winners. Thank you George for allowing us the opportunity to work with you this season. All the scores for the series can be found at http://westcoastsailing-grand-prix.myfleet.org/ I’m working on the schedule right now for 2020 and planning on adding an event in Benicia this year. You can get information on the schedule here. https://westcoastsailing.net/d24 See you next year.

District 25 Tucker Strasser SoCal Turkey Day Regatta was held in Long beach at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club with 22 radials and 7 Full rig sailing in unusually light wind. Results in the full rig were Sumeet Patel, ABYC 1st, Jorge Suarez, ABYC 2nd and Daren Sathasivam, CBYC 3rd. In the Radial fleet, Taft Buckley, ABYC 1st, Liam Andresen, SBYC 2nd and Morgan Pinckney, NHYC 3rd. Upcoming events, Super Bowl Charity Regatta, January 25 @ Santa Monica Windjammers YC. Feb 7-9 Birthday Regatta & Leukemia Cup, Arizona YC SCYA Midwinters Masters February 15-16 @ Alamitos Bay YC. California Masters Championship, February 22-23 @ Mission Bay YC. Laser Midwinters West Regatta (juniors and adults) March 20-22 @ Alamitos Bay YC. This event is a USA team qualifier for the Youth World Championship in the Laser Radial Girl’s One Person Dinghy and the Laser Radial Boy’s One Person Dinghy.This regatta is open to Laser Standards, Radials and 4.7s. Expect large fleets of Lasers and Radials competing for thirty (30) International Laser Class Association Grand Prix Points and fifty (50) World Sailing, ISAF Ranking points. A fun Regatta to put on your calendar this yearis the Newport to Dana Point, April 24, a 14 mile race down the Southern California Coast. This race is part of the Newport to Ensenada race. Details nosa.org

SailorCise Winter is Here: Sandbag Training and Homemade Granola Recipe Rachel and Matt Goetting Sailorcise LLC Hard to believe, but winter is here! With winter here and sailing slowing down in most areas, it’s a great time to focus more on your fitness training and get stronger to enhance your performance on the water. Not only is it a great time to work on your training, but also try something new with your training as well as try new healthy recipes. Winter is the perfect time to try our sandbag training and our homemade granola recipe! We hope you enjoy and wish you a winter filled with fitness gains and healthy and delicious food. Sandbag Training: Why we love the sandbag for our sailing fitness training: •

Sandbags vary in weight sizes, and you can adjust the weight to pick the perfect weight for you. You can take out sand bags to make the weight less for harder exercises and increase it for other exercises. • The sandbag is awkward to lift since the sand shifts in the bag, and this requires you to work hard to perform exercises helping you to build total-body strength. • The sandbag is a great training tool to help improve your grip strength, which is essential in sailing. • The sandbag is unstable with the sand shifting in the bag, which will help to build serious core strength. • It’s an aﬀordable training tool. • You can take it with you on your next trip; you just need to empty the sandbags and reﬁll at your next destination. Check out below this excellent sandbag workout! The sandbag is sure to help you build strength and hike longer and stronger out on the water. Also, check out the video on our YouTube channel (Sailorcise LLC): https://youtu.be/toV8eUx_I1A for all the moves required for this workout. Give the sandbag a try today! 40

Sandbag Workout: Warm-up with Dynamic Stretching (5-10 minutes) Core Activation: Plank Rotations (30 seconds) Forward Lunges (30 seconds) Tricep Dips (30 seconds) Repeat 3x with 15 seconds rest between sets Workout: Single-Leg Deadlift with Row on Right Leg (15 reps) Single-Leg Deadlift with Row on Left Leg (15 reps) Pull Through with Alternating Spider Plank (20 reps) Sandbag Russian Twists (25 reps) Repeat 3x with 30 seconds rest between sets Sumo Squat with High Pull (20 reps) Alternating Overhead Press (20 reps) Burpee with Snatch (15 reps) Repeat 3x with 30 seconds rest between sets Squat with Shoulder Press (15 reps) Sandbag Halos (10 reps clockwise 10 reps counterclockwise) Alternating Reverse Lunge with Good Morning (20 reps) Repeat 3x with 30 seconds rest between sets Cool Down with Foam Rolling and Static Stretching (5-10 minutes)

SailorCise Homemade Granola Did you know making granola is easy and loads of fun? Granola is a great snack ﬁlled with nutrients that will ﬁll you up, add it to your smoothie bowl, oatmeal, or just eat it plain. Either way, it will be healthy and delicious! Making granola at home is not only fun but can save you money as store-bought granola can be expensive. Also, by making your own granola at home, you will know what is going into it as some store-bought granola contains lots of sugar. You can also customize it and add ingredients you love! Check out our recipe for our favorite granola. We added options of what you can change depending on your preferences. We hope you enjoy it! Sailors Crunch Granola Ingredients: � 1 1/2 cups Gluten-Free Oats or Regular Oats

www.Laser.org

� � � � � �

1 cup Buckwheat 1 cup Chopped or Sliced Almonds 1/2 cup Chopped Walnuts 1/2 cup Coconut Flakes or Shredded Coconut 1 tsp cinnamon 1/3 cup Maple Syrup or Agave Nectar, or Coconut Nectar � Optional Add-Ins: Chia Seeds, Cacao Nibs, Quinoa, Ground Flax Seeds Directions: 1. Mix all dry ingredients together in a big bowl. Along with any optional add-ins. 2. Pour in maple syrup or another sweetener. Mix until all dry ingredients become wet with sweetener. 3. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet, pour mixture onto sheet and spread out. 4. Bake at 225 degrees F for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Or until granola looks brown and crunchy. 5. Enjoy! We store our granola in a glass jar where it will keep fresh for a couple of weeks if we don’t go through it too quickly.

Why Join the Laser Class? What are some of the benefits of a strong class association? 

A strong class association means lots of boats to race against, near you and around the world!

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A strong class association with lots of racing attracts the world’s best sailors - giving you the best racing possible!

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A strong class association means major events scheduled at the best sailing locations and moving all over the North American Region - there will always be a big event near you!

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A strong class association means solid class rules making all boats as identical as possible - you are competing against other sailors, not their pocket books!

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A strong class association means lots of people looking to buy boats keeping the resale value of your boat high.

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your fellow competitors and making you eligible for end of the season prizes, like new sails, carbon tillers, etc. You get direct beneﬁt by joining the Laser Class!

What does the class association do with your membership dues? 

The ﬁrst $14.00 of your membership dues go to pay the North American staﬀ who work incredibly hard to: make sure our North American events get scheduled every year and that these events follow the high standards of the Laser Class, to publish our quarterly newsletter, etc. Importantly, that money also makes sure that if you ever have a question you can simply pick up the phone, or send an email, and a knowledgeable person will answer you right away.

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$10.11 of your dues goes to the International Class where they use the money to pay their staﬀ to make sure world level events get scheduled, ensuring all the boats are the same by inspecting the builders to make sure they are complying with the Laser Construction Manual, keep track of rules changes proposed by members, interfacing with ISAF on various levels, including keeping both the Laser Standard and Laser Radial as Olympic equipment, etc.

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A little over $7.00 goes to the quarterly assembling, printing and mailing of The Laser Sailor to you for the year.

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Around $5.00 goes to support and promotion, ranging from direct support of the districts and regattas to the website.

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Most of the remaining dues go toward all the things it takes to running an organization of 2000 members, from Executive Secretary travel costs, to federal income taxes all the way to mundane oﬃce expenses. Your membership dues are used to keep the Laser Standard, Laser Radial and Laser 4.7 as THE singlehanded dinghy to sail and race in North America and throughout the world!

A strong class association keeps an eye towards the future and works with the builders to make improvements where needed while preserving as well as possible the competitiveness of older boats.

To be strong, a class association needs the support of its sailors!

What are some of the direct benefits of membership? 

You receive the annual Laser Class Handbook with the current class rules, interpretations of those rules, class constitution, guidelines for events, useful information for keeping your boat in good shape, contact information for your district, etc.

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You receive the International Class Association’s quarterly publication “Laser World” which gives a roundup of international events sailed around the world, as well as information from the international oﬃce.

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You receive the North American Association’s quarterly publication “The Laser Sailor” which is loaded with regatta reports, technique articles, fitness and nutrition tips, sailor profiles, reports from each of the North American Region’s 26 Districts and much, much more. In addition, the magazine also contains advertising from Laser dealers selling Laser specific gear and aimed entirely at Laser sailors - if you are looking for something for your boat you will see it advertised here!

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You will have access to the class website at www.laser. org containing all the latest news as well as the up to date calendar of events, complete with maps to show you how to ﬁnd the events. And you can also ﬁnd archived copies of The Laser Sailor as well as useful articles on how to sail your boat faster.

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Your membership makes you eligible to sail in any of the 50+ major Laser Class regattas scheduled every year throughout the North American Region, including open, masters’, youth and women’s events.

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Your membership makes you eligible for the ILCA-NA Grand Prix where you earn

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points when sailing in major events, ranking you against

Why should you join the Laser Class? 

To enable the Laser Class to remain a strong class association and continue to make the Laser the pre-eminent singlehanded dinghy of our time.

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To gain the beneﬁts of membership outlined above.

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To protect your investment in your boat, making sure that if the time comes to sell then you can be certain that the high demand driven by a strong class will enable you to get the best price for your boat.

The International Laser Class Association, North American Region is what it is today because of the support of its members. Keep that tradition alive, join or renew your membership TODAY!

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

North America

Name_______________________________________________________ Address_____________________________________________________ City ___________________State / Prov. _____Zip / postal code ________ Phone ____________________ E-mail____________________________ Sail # ______________DOB (month/day/year) _____________Sex ______ Boat usually sailed _____Laser ______Radial _____Laser 4.7 Current Membership Fees All amounts are in US dollars. (Canadian checks must be in US dollars.) • Regular - $50 for one year or $95 for 2 years • Junior - $45 (Member may not turn 18 during term of membership), or $85 for 2 years (Member may not turn 18 during term of membership) • International - $60 (any member not living in the US or Canada), one year only

Amount enclosed __________________US$ Please make checks payable to ILCA of NA or provide credit card informa�on as shown below. Thank you for joining the Laser Class. Credit Card payment by Visa, Mastercard or AMEX (Sorry – no Discover)

Name on credit card: ________________________________________________________ Credit card number: ________________________________________________________ Exp. date: _________ Credit card billing zip/postal code _________ Security code____ NOTE: Occasionally we make our mailing list available to our adver�sers. If you do not want your name included on these lists, please check here: _________

RETURN THIS FORM TO: ILCA OF NA 2812 CANON STREET SAN DIEGO, CA 92106

www.Laser.org

Winter 2020